Byron Bay holiday accommodation bookings fill quickly

Travel experts confirm that demand for travel not only to Byron Shire, but to the region, is looking to be a sell out, in a year that has been tumultuous for the tourism industry.

Brunswick Heads residents Gene Johnson and Karl Ulrich are preparing for an influx of guests into their short-term accommodation this summer. Picture: Javier Encalada

Brunswick Heads property owners Karl Uhrich and Gene Johnson are ready to cash in on their hard work as holiday booking floodgates open with the lift of regional lockdown.

The couple renovated a three-bedroom home they bought 20km north of Byron Bay in January last year and started letting it out on a short-term basis in January this year.

“We have had a good number of guests so far, although I guess we only know running the house through Covid, so it’s definitely been an interesting year and a weird year,” Mr Uhrich said.

He said Christmas was looking good.

“Back in July we were fully booked for Christmas but then everything changed,” he said.

“Some bookings moved and others cancelled.

“In the last week, we have seen a further change, with a lot of inquiries, and search traffic seems to be going up.”

Online accommodation booking platform Stayz has registered a surge in searches looking for accommodation for Christmas and New Year’s in Northern NSW.

Stayz spokeswoman Simone Scoppa.

The booking platform says 78 per cent of its Far North Coast Christmas bookings are from NSW residents.

It is consistent with the trend of Aussie travellers sticking to their own states in 2021 due to Covid restrictions.

It comes after Lennox Head property Dragon Treehouse was last month announced as the winner of the Stayz Holiday Home of the Year Awards in NSW.

Stayz spokeswoman Simone Scoppa said demand for travel not only to Byron Shire, but to the region, was looking to be a sell out in a year that has been tumultuous for the tourism industry.

“Tourism business is looking good for the region, with only one holiday home left to book in Lennox Head and Brunswick Heads for Christmas week and the same destinations plus Yamba and Evans Head all booked out for New Year’s Eve,” she said.

“Byron is looking to be the top pick with about 4 per cent of homes left – a destination that traditionally is in the already sold out category as we head into Christmas.

Yamba and Evans Head continue to be the best value holiday homes over the December period with respective average prices of $289 and $214 a night.

Brunswick Heads holiday homes on Stayz are fetching on average $683 a night for the same holiday period, which represents a price increase of 19 per cent year on year and even more than Byron Bay, that is traditionally known to have larger and more luxurious homes.

Caravan parks are also reporting a boost in bookings.

Discovery Parks Byron Bay. Picture: Supplied.

Reflections Holidays owns facilities in Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads, Lennox Head and two in Ballina.

A spokeswoman from the company said they had more than 2300 bookings across their Northern NSW parks for the Christmas and New Year period.

“The Northern NSW Parks will see a majority of those bookings for the Christmas period come from NSW, at approximately 50 per cent of our guests being from that region, however this is followed closely behind at 48 per cent of bookings coming from Queensland,” she said.

“We have seen bookings for the Northern NSW parks predominantly being made for the upcoming September and October school holiday period, with some parks in that region already showing strong signs that they will reach or exceed occupancy levels above 2020 results.”

With all those visitors coming to the area, Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon wonders how the region will the area cope with the demand.

“There will be a lot of people coming here, but the housing crisis continues unabated,” he said.

“Our local workers are struggling to find housing.

“There is not going to be any staff, businesses are not going to be able to find staff.”

Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon.

Mr Lyon said businesses were unable to pay wages that would allow people to rent in the area.

“It’s a highly uncertain time, but housing is an emergency issue for our locals.”

Meanwhile, Mr Uhrich is optimistic about the future and hopes the community will respond to the demands the summer of 2022 will bring to the area.

“We feel good about 2022,” he said.

“Things are settling in and there are a lot of reasons for optimism.

“We have strong bookings in January and as far out as July for next year, I think that optimism is shared, although with a great deal of cautious reservation.”