Hamilton Island and Whitsundays bask in huge popularity surge

Decimated through the darkest days of the pandemic, plagued by staff shortages and roasted by guests as Covid dragged on, Hamilton Island has made an extraordinary comeback that is helping to lift the entire region.

Hamilton Island is almost completely booked out until Christmas and beyond as the tourism hot spot basks in an extraordinary comeback.

Decimated throughout the darkest days of the pandemic, Hamilton is enjoying unprecedented popularity, with this weekend’s opening of the Race Week sailing regatta generating the island’s busiest week in three years while the entire Whitsunday region is also pumping after a record-breaking year that shows no signs of slowing down.

Race Week has traditionally been the busiest period on the Hamilton Island calendar as thousands of boaties converge on the slice of Whitsunday paradise, but the event was cancelled two years in a row due to the pandemic.

Hamilton’s hotels, resorts and private villas are almost completely booked out for Race Week in a multimillion-dollar windfall for the island economy, but there is no sign of demand dropping, with barely a room available between now and Christmas.

The signature qualia resort and Reef View Hotel are both almost completely booked out until the end of the year, with some of the remaining options including private villas listed on booking websites for thousands of dollars a night.

Hamilton Island is in the midst of an extraordinary bookings boom with qualia resort booked almost solid until Christmas. Picture: Sharyn Cairns

The Reef View Hotel has recently completed a multimillion-dollar makeover, while staffing levels have been restored to pre-pandemic levels.

It’s a far cry from last summer when Covid’s Omicron wave played havoc with staffing levels and saw travellers take their frustrations to social media.

Most recent reviews have been more positive, though some have complained about the price of rooms at the Reef View Hotel reaching more than $500 a night while others have been less than impressed with the cost of food and drinks at the island’s hospitality venues.

Hamilton Island CEO Pete Brulisauer said Race Week was just the start of what was shaping as a golden run for the tourism hot spot.

“We are delighted to welcome back about 2000 members of the sailing fraternity and their families and friends for a great reunion (for Race Week) and resort bookings are strong over the next six months.

“The island is looking magnificent and … it’s evident there’s an insatiable appetite to travel.”

The flow-on effects are being felt across the entire Whitsunday region as southerners flee freezing winters while Queenslanders who would normally turn their attention overseas are also choosing to holiday closer to home.

Hamilton Island is enjoying a surge in popularity. Picture: supplied

Tourism Whitsundays CEO Rick Hamilton said it was an incredible time for the region, which welcomed more than 800,000 visitors in the year to March, an increase of 11 per cent over the past three years.

“Data shows record visitation for the Whitsundays over the past year (and) forward bookings are looking very strong, which is fantastic and hugely encouraging for the region as a whole,” he said.

“The Whitsundays continues to appeal to our key state capital cities for those who are not currently looking to travel overseas with direct access from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns into Hamilton Island Airport and Whitsunday Coast Airport (Proserpine).”