Future Cairns: Far North tourism offering needs to focus on luxury
Far North Queensland’s tourism boss says more than 500 luxury rooms are needed and veteran investors in the region say a pivot to five star offerings is critical.
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Far North Queensland’s tourism boss says more than 500 luxury rooms are needed in the next decade if the city is to attract new markets.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen said quality accommodation, retail and dining was crucial to a thriving economy.
“Trusted global brands play an important role in building new markets as we have seen with Japan and China,” he said.
“To further develop an opportunity like the Indian market we need to see global brands they recognise such as a Taj Hotel in Cairns.
“We will need significant investment in building 500 rooms over the next decade for visitors who have expectations of similar luxury to what they see around the world.
“In addition to quality accommodation we will need the services to go with that, particularly retail and dining.
“If we hit our ambitious target of $7.5 billion expenditure by 2032 that will mean an extra $1.3 billion spent per year on food and drink.”
Mr Olsen said quality food and beverage offerings which create opportunities for local produce and value-adds like gin distilleries is key.
“Travellers will want exclusivity and uniqueness to encourage them to travel far from home, so we need products that express what is special about our nature-based destination,” he said,
It comes after Melbourne developer Tim Gurner was the green light for an up-market $250m hotel and private residences development in the heart of Port Douglas.
Offering an endless array of wellness pursuits, it will also be the most significant development for Port Douglas since the Sheraton Mirage opened in 1987.
In Cairns, the unprecedented building boom of the 1980s and 1990s resulted in Shangri-La, Hilton Cairns, and the Pullman Cairns International and Casino.
More recently, Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud changed the landscape dramatically with his trio of Crystalbrook Hotels, the first of which, Riley, opened its doors in 2018.
Mr Aboud has said he wanted his guests to have luxurious experiences in Cairns city and has been critical of what he sees as a lack of vision.
Crystalbrook Collection chief executive Geoff York, citing popular tree-lined pedestrian streets across the globe, including the famed La Rambla in Barcelona, said closing the road between Shields and Aplin St could be part of a CBD revival.
He said creating a vibrant pedestrian experience in the city was essential.
Veteran Port Douglas developer John Morris, who is putting the finishing touches to his 17 villa exclusive Escape Collection, hopes a private investor will swoop in and give the underwhelming Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina a gigantic makeover with a six-star hotel.
“I understand there’s some serious, serious players who have lodged expressions of interest,” he said.
Mr Morris said more work needed to be done on roads and road closures, as post-Tropical Cyclone Jasper landslips had dented the region’s reputation.
“It remains a lovely drive, and there’s only short delays of 10 to 15 minutes,” he said of the trip from Cairns to Port Douglas.
“We’ve had an extraordinary event that has caused pretty extraordinary damage to both roads and water infrastructure, and it is going to take a lot of funding over a long time to really get to the point where we are highly resilient to that front.”
He said state and federal governments needed to give the Far North a kick start with infrastructure.
Cairns-based developer Nathan Verri has multiple high-end projects underway on the northern beaches and in Port Douglas, transforming weary-looking matchbox-sized unit complexes and tired-looking houses into glamour villas.
He knocked down an unsightly 1980s unit block in Amphora St at Palm Cove, one block from the beach, and has built Luna Villas, which were sold off the plan or during construction – they are compact but luxurious and private.
While Mr Verri’s focus is on prestige homes, he wants all levels of government to focus on improving the supply of economical homes.
“Leaders should be investing and supporting economical housing in the region, to both assist with the workforce shortage, and provide the ability for up and coming generations to live sustainably and economically,” Mr Verri said.
“Council needs to be more outcome-based with development proposals, with less emphasis on impacts, and reduced or waived infrastructure charges for housing would be great,” he said.
Tourism entrepreneur Chris Morris, whose portfolio includes Orpheus Island, Pelorus Island, Mt Mulligan Lodge, and local aviation and technology businesses, would like investment in facilities to host superyachts and streamlined car routes.
“I am a great believer in superyacht facilities, there’s marinas in Brisbane and at the Gold Coast, there’s big bucks, but they go out to sea and there’s nothing to see,” he said.
Mr Morris said the Great Barrier Reef would be a huge attraction for this elite market segment.
“There’s a lot of wealthy people who would come, there’s so much to see – at Port Douglas, you’ve got to wait for the right tides to get in.”
He said easy access for all boats would be a plus, the casino needed a revamp, and he’d build a beach bar at Double Island if he secured the lease – which is currently in the process of being stripped from Hong Kong developer Benny Wu.
“The road into Cairns from the airport is good, but I can’t believe how long it takes to get to Palm Cove, there’s only one way,” Mr Morris said.
He also said insurance costs were a potential deterrent for investors in the Far North.
Long-time Cairns developer Frank Gasparin, whose current project is the $170m Half Moon Bay residential development at Trinity Park, in conjunction with Villawood, said enhancing the CBD would attract more international investment and more tourists.
“The inner city is a ghost town most days and along Abbott St in particular, it is in great need of a facelift,” Mr Gasparin said.
“Revitalisation and beautification of Abbott St needs to be given top priority as it is the first thing people see when they disembark from the Cruise Liner Terminal. “
Mr Gasparin said beautification through appropriate landscaping, lighting and streetscaping would create ambience and a great first impression as well as improving city safety.
“It’s not just about the Esplanade – the rest of the CBD deserves attention too,” Mr Gasparin said.
“Recently I invested substantially to upgrade my buildings on the corner of Spence and Abbott St, and also refurbished a hotel I owned on this strip – like many other local developers, I have put my money where my mouth is, now it is time for council and governments to do the same.”
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Originally published as Future Cairns: Far North tourism offering needs to focus on luxury
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