Queensland border reopening boosts Whitsunday tourism, accommodation demand

News of Queensland’s border finally re-opening has resulted in an instant surge in bookings for island getaways as southerners seek to escape their state’s Covid misery. But not everyone is benefiting.

Whitsunday tourism operators can finally see a light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel as travel restrictions ease ahead of the critical Christmas holiday period.

Airlines, hotels and tour companies all experienced an instant surge in inquiries from southern states after the premier’s roadmap announcement on Monday.

Virgin Australia recorded a 114 per cent increase in passengers for the combined Mackay, Proserpine and Hamilton Island markets week on week, and strong bookings into October, November and December which could result in more flights added to its schedule.

Whitsunday Coast Airport could get more Virgin flights as demand for Whitsunday holidays soars. Picture: Laura Thomas

Hamilton Island CEO Glenn Bourke confirmed the island resort experienced “immense” demand from New South Wales during the week, advising prospective travellers to get in quick to secure quickly disappearing 2022 vacancies.

And it was a similar story on Long Island, where Palm Bay Resort’s new general manager Cameron Longhurst noticed the phones started ringing more frequently as soon as Victoria and New South Wales began to emerge out of lockdowns.

“New South Wales and Victoria have been holiday bookings in our system for ages and just not letting go of them and sort of rescheduling and moving them back – now they’re all confirming and we’re already pretty well booked so we’re in a good spot moving forward,” Mr Longhurst said.

Hamilton Island is proving popular with New South Wales residents emerging out of lockdown.

On the mainland, holiday parks were yet to experience a significant jump but expected things to pick up soon.

Booking platforms Airbnb and Booking.com both ranked the Whitsundays and Airlie Beach highly in their lists of the top 10 most searched domestic holiday destinations from now to the end of summer, with Airbnb also promoting the Whitsundays and Mackay as regions with greater availability over the peak periods.

The boutique Palm Bay Resort on Long Island is fully booked for December.

Activity providers such as boat tour agency Red Cat Adventures were relieved to be able to confirm interstate bookings that were at risk of cancellation, start planning ahead, and reassure their staff they would keep their jobs into the new year.

Red Cat co-founder Julie Telford expected it would take a little while for consumer confidence to increase to the point new bookings picked up dramatically, but said the roadmap announcement had “stopped the fear of the unknown” heading into the peak season.

“The summer holiday period is critical for our business – that’s our time that we really try and make as much money as we can, and if we’re not full, we’ve got a problem,” Ms Telford said.

“So it’s great to be able to have the borders open just before school holidays -it’s kind of like a bit of a Christmas present for us.”

Ms Telford said she and her 30 staff were grateful for the support of Queensland customers who kept the company afloat during the border closures, but said interstate bookings were vital to help fill the gap left by the lack of international tourists, who represented about 80 per cent of bookings before the pandemic hit.

“It’s finally something that's positive to come out of such a volatile situation that we've been in and it's just nice to know that we’re on the tail end of it,” Ms Telford said of the roadmap.

Red Cat Adventures expects good numbers on its day tours aboard the Thundercat.

“Now we’re just strategising for when the international borders reopen and that's going to be the next step and then hopefully we'll be back to not hustling and fighting for every single booking.

“If we can get the town buzzing again and the main street really busy, everyone benefits – from accommodation to restaurants, pubs, the islands and obviously that equates to having people on experiences so it's a win win for the whole region, not just our industry.”

Tourism Whitsundays agreed the roadmap was a “huge win” for the region, with members of their staff “crying happy tears” and sighing in relief upon hearing the news.

The organisation is now campaigning to ensure Whitsunday residents meet the government’s vaccination targets “to ensure our tourism reliant region doesn’t experience lockdowns or restrictions later down the line”, and encourages anyone with questions to make use of its online resources containing up to date, localised information.