Emily Sullivan renting out Cawarral home for Beef Australia 2024

With the average wedding costing between $26,000 and $29,000, one Queensland woman has come up with an ingenious solution to help her save thousands on her big day.

One Central Queensland woman has come up with a unique way to easily earn thousands for her wedding day expensives - Airbnb.

The money hacks continue, with Emily Sullivan and her partner David Gleeson also using their Cawarral home as accommodation for family visiting for the wedding and as a trial for hosting future events at their property.

The ingenious solution will hopefully bring down costs for their big day in May, with Queensland weddings costing between $26,000 and $29,000 on average.

A seven night stay at the property, which is about 15 minutes from the Capricorn Coast and about 25 minutes from Rockhampton, will cost just over $800 a night.

Their piece of paradise can hold up to 10 guests with four bedrooms, a large deck for entertaining or relaxing, livestock holding pens and plenty of space to park large trucks.

Ms Sullivan said they were keen on the idea after friends rented out their own property during the triennial event.

“They said ‘we’re looking at doing this because we know so many people who can’t get accommodation’ and they put it up and within a week it was booked out, and I think they got like $12,000,” she said.

Emily Sullivan and her partner David Gleeson will be renting out their property at Cawarral for accommodation during Beef Australia.

“I thought, ‘oh, that’s a huge portion of vendors for our wedding and it would be a great way to make some money’.”

Emily came up with hosting for Beef Week 2024, which will be a few days before their wedding.

“We knew we had to clear the place a bit anyway and a cleaner through because we have family wanting to stay with us for the wedding,” she said.

“We put the place up, we debated whether to put the main house up or granny flat... but we put this place up and it booked really quickly.”

Ms Sullivan said if all went well, they may consider hosting weddings or even renting out their property for future events.

“Depending on how easy it is to do this sort of thing, it will give us an indication if it’s worth doing that as a package thing for people who might want to have an event such as a wedding, or a hens or bachelors or things like that,” she said.

A seven night stay at the Cawarral property will cost just over $800 a night, with the couple putting the extra cash towards their wedding just days after Beef Australia wraps up.

Ms Sullivan said the property had been booked within a week of them listing it and now preparations for their guests are in full swing.

Emily Sullivan and her partner David Gleeson will be renting out their property at Cawarral for accommodation during Beef Australia.

She said it would be nice to bring people to the quaint country town of Cawarral.

“We talk to people all the time from Rocky or Yeppoon and when we saw Cawarral they’re like ‘where’s that?’, it will be nice to have people coming and going through here,” she said.

“There’s a pub at the end of the road, so hopefully it brings some people to that because it’s a very country small-town pub.

“It’s nice to have Cawarral a little bit more on the map. I think someone who is coming to this sort of thing probably doesn’t want to be in the middle of town, they probably like to stay somewhere a little bit like what they’re used to but it’s still close enough where it’s not ages away.”

AIRBNB BEEFS UP RENTALS AS BEEF WEEK DRAWS CLOSER

Locals across the region are taking advantage of Airbnb as Beef Australia draws closer and accommodation becomes scarce.

Dozens of property owners across the Beef Capital have offered their own homes as an accommodation option for visitors, with some renting out rooms or whole properties through service.

Airbnb country manager for Australia and New Zealand Susan Wheeldon said Airbnb hosts helped grow local economies.

A map of just some of the Airbnb listings in the Rockhampton region during the week of Beef Australia.

“During events like Beef Australia, Airbnb Hosts help grow the visitor economy, providing more accommodation choice in more locations across a variety of price points. In turn, this helps to support local jobs and businesses,” she said.

“Airbnb is proud to support Beef Australia to encourage locals in the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast area to host on Airbnb ahead of the milestone event next month, to help the region handle the increased demand for accommodation and empower locals to make some extra money to battle the rising cost of living.

“One of the benefits Airbnb offers for those travelling to the Rockhampton region is allowing families and group travellers to have the space, conveniences and privacy to stay together as a group and split the cost to make for a more affordable stay.”

ROCKHAMPTON A NUMBER ONE DESTINATION

According to data from Airbnb, Rockhampton was the number one destination for travellers planning to stay local in 2024.

In addition to this, there was an increase of more than 6000 per cent in searches for listings in Rockhampton for the period of Beef Australia, compared to the month before, with more than 85 per cent of travellers searching for stays between two and six nights.