‘Best-kept secret in the world’: The Gold Coast beach that has taken out top honours
As the cost of living bites, travellers seeking shorter, more affordable getaways are rediscovering regional and coastal towns across Australia - here’s the top spots to visit.
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Australia is a nation of travellers. Almost nothing will stop us from packing our bags for a getaway. Not a pandemic, not a natural disaster and not a cost of living crisis. When life gets tough, we don’t cancel our travel plans – we find a way to make new ones.
When international travel was off the table during the pandemic, Australians started exploring their own back yards in droves. Pent-up demand following lockdowns and border closures helped get local tourism back on its feet. Now, it has almost fully recovered.
Just as international travel opened up again, interest rates and inflation skyrocketed. For a while it seemed like everyone was heading off overseas for pandemic-delayed adventures or all-important family reunions.
In reality, most of us were still holidaying closer to home and getting our travel fix for a more affordable price.
Cheaper and quicker than international travel, domestic holidays have come to the rescue once again as cost of living bites. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that Australia has a world of travel to offer.
Anyone can choose a well-earned break within their budget. From tropical island holidays, outback road trips, Indigenous cultural experiences and winery tours to inner-city breaks, nature retreats and family camping trips, our big, beautiful country offers a kaleidoscope of adventures.
Deloitte’s Tourism Market Outlook report released in December found Australians continue to prioritise travel in their household spending decisions despite challenging economic conditions. Adele Labine-Romain, national travel, hospitality and leisure sector leader at Deloitte, says while many in the industry have concerns that cost of living pressures will stop people from travelling, this simply isn’t happening.
“We are not willing to not travel. We’re going to travel by hook or by crook,” Labine-Romain says.
“Australians travel twice as much as Americans and one-and-a-half times as much as our counterparts in New Zealand. What we are seeing, however, are some practical outcomes in the marketplace where people are changing how they travel.”
Regional and coastal towns across the country that have undergone a “glow up” in recent years have become much more attractive to travellers looking to holiday closer to home, for shorter periods of time and at a lower cost.
One glowing brighter than the Queensland sun is Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast.
It was identified in the Unpack ’24 travel trends report by Expedia, Wotif and Stayz as one of Australia’s top five regional “glow ups” – that is, an area that has undergone an exciting transformation thanks to new investment. This can include openings of new hotels, restaurants, bars, cultural centres, public spaces and more.
In Kirra’s case, the beautiful coastal spot on the southern end of the Gold Coast is having somewhat of a foodie renaissance.
Beachfront restaurant Siblings was one of the first to kick things off when it opened at the iconic Kirra Beach Pavilion in early 2022. It was followed by the new Kirra Beach Hotel and Kirra Beach House in November and Billy Chow, brother restaurant to Nobby Beach favourite Ally Chow, in December.
Kirra Beach Hotel and Kirra Beach House – a sprawling 1200sq m beachside venue with three cocktail bars, beach cabanas, outdoor terraces and a wedding/functions area – are SITE Hospitality owner Dave Galvin’s latest ventures on the Gold Coast. Galvin spent 20 years in Sydney’s restaurant scene before turning his attention to the Sunshine State and, ultimately, Kirra.
“The Gold Coast hospitality scene has been coming of age for the past decade and Kirra is the best-kept secret in the world,” Galvin says.
The two venues are part of the Kirra Point Precinct development by KTQ Group. This includes the highly anticipated Kirra Point Stays oceanfront holiday apartments due to open late March.
Bringing a new level of sophistication to the relaxed neighbourhood just five minutes from the Gold Coast Airport, the luxury resort of one, two and three-bedroom apartments is by the same team that was behind Elements at Byron. Jeremy Holmes, development director at KTQ Group, knows the Gold Coast well.
He grew up in Brisbane and took regular family holidays down the coast. With Kirra one of Queensland’s rare north-facing beaches, Holmes can hardly believe it’s managed to escape the spotlight until now.
“The southern Gold Coast, from a real estate perspective, has been a bit left behind and overlooked … We’re making sure we deliver a very high quality product that is very well considered,” Holmes says.
While the luxury market might not be aimed at your average Aussie traveller, it does offer an enticing, cost-effective alternative to those who would normally spend big on holidays overseas.
In North Queensland, Townsville has welcomed its own new luxury hotel. Complete with three new restaurants and a helicopter pad, Ardo opened its doors in December and is located next door to The Ville Resort-Casino.
It’s not just coastal areas that visitors are drawn to in Queensland. Outback destinations experienced an 11.3 per cent jump in visitors over the past year, according to Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia O’Callaghan.
“Outback Queensland is always a favourite. There are a lot of great parks and cultural sites that people can enjoy,” O’Callaghan says.
Whether driving along the Matilda Way from Cunnamulla to Karumba or taking a road trip to discover Queensland’s Dinosaur Trail, there are dozens of sites to visit along the way. Road trips became hugely popular during the pandemic and the trend continues.
“The demand for road trips feeds into a lot of the trends emphasised by the pandemic – people wanting to be in nature, be independent, to explore and experience,” Labine-Romain says.
“A lot of jurisdictions invested in itineraries and packaging around selling the message that their destinations were ideal for road trips. Regional destinations performed really strongly during the pandemic and while the intensity of that has levelled off for places like Byron and some regions that were overwhelmed, there continues to be really strong interest in regional destinations that have a nature-based offering.”
In Victoria, regional tourism is thriving. According to Shae Keenan, chief marketing officer at Visit Victoria, being Australia’s second-smallest state is no bad thing when it comes to attracting travellers.
“Victoria’s secret sauce is that we’re such a compact state and we punch above our weight in terms of experiences per square metre,” Keenan says.
“Victoria really is the perfect destination for a short break. Consumers can come into Melbourne and right on your doorstep is a diverse range of regional experiences exploring nature, wineries and spa and wellbeing offerings.”
About an hour’s drive southwest of Melbourne, Geelong has undergone its own glow up. The Geelong Arts Centre reopened in August following a $140m redevelopment, creating Australia’s largest dedicated regional performing arts centre. Co-designed by ARM Architecture and Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, the striking landmark weaves the stories of the wider First Nations community throughout the design.
The cross-Bass Strait ferry Spirit of Tasmania’s move to Geelong in late 2022 has also attracted visitors to the region along with the new Portarlington Mussel Tours and Mt Duneed Estate winery’s accommodation pods.
The growing trend towards wellbeing tourism hasn’t gone unnoticed in Victoria.
“Spa and wellbeing experiences really are a competitive advantage for us,” Keenan says. “We have naturally occurring mineral springs and geothermal waters right across our state and we’ve been blessed with new openings.”
Complementing an already strong offering in Daylesford and on the Mornington Peninsula, Alba Thermal Springs and Spa is a bathing, dining and wellness oasis that opened in October 2022 in Fingal, on the Peninsula. Hot on its heels was the opening of Metung Hot Springs overlooking the Gippsland Lakes.
Another travel trend that never seems to go out of style is winery tours.
Australians are spoiled for choice when it comes to wine regions. In 2016, Adelaide was recognised as one of the world’s Great Wine Capitals alongside destinations such as Bordeaux, Cape Town and Napa Valley.
With the Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills all a short distance from the South Australian capital, they make the perfect short getaway for those who love to wine and dine among the vineyards.
SA Tourism and Multicultural Affairs Minister, Zoe Bettison, says many operators are now adding extra attractions to keep visitors coming back to the region again and again.
“We’re seeing increased activities connected to cellar doors. They’re adding live music, baby animals, Segway tours, mazes, playgrounds for the kids and more,” Bettison says.
In 2020, Kangaroo Island was devastated by the Black Summer bushfires. Ruggedly beautiful and home to an abundance of native wildlife including sea lions, penguins, dolphins, koalas and kangaroos, the island off the South Australian mainland is now well and truly back on its feet.
A popular destination for adventurous travellers looking for a quintessential Aussie nature experience like no other, the island also welcomed the reopening of the luxurious Southern Ocean Lodge in December after it was burnt to the ground.
Meanwhile, Research and Discovery Coastal Tours is blending citizen science and nature exploration on KI. It allows visitors to get up close and personal with the region’s wildlife and get involved in hands-on data collection.
In NSW, Newcastle was chosen as one of Australia’s best regional glow ups in the Unpack ’24 report. It isn’t hard to see why.
In the past two years the coastal city two hours’ drive north of Sydney has welcomed two new five-star hotels including QT and Crystalbrook Kingsley as well as a wide range of new restaurants, cafes, bars and breweries. Doma’s Little National Newcastle luxury hotel is due to open in April.
According to NSW Jobs and Tourism Minister John Graham, the popularity of regional NSW is proving to be a key driver of the visitor economy.
“All points of the NSW compass are on travellers’ radars. From Lord Howe Island to Broken Hill and Byron Bay to Jervis Bay, there is a huge appetite for NSW,” Graham says.
Once you’ve saved your pennies, a world of travel opportunities awaits in Australia.
SAIL AWAY
For those who prefer their holidays on the open sea, cruise ships are bigger and better than ever. Many offer affordable, value-packed holidays and have invested heavily in welcoming travellers back on board.
There is no shortage of cruise operators, including P&O, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Disney, Virgin Voyages, Viking, Silversea, Scenic, Hurtigruten and more.
Adele Labine-Romain, national travel, hospitality and leisure sector leader at Deloitte, says cruising is “very hot rightnow’’, and was strong even through the pandemic.
“That particular sector has bounded out of the gate with such strong demandthat has generated a whole series of investment by almost all of the cruise lines,” Labine-Romain says.
My Cruises general manager Michael Middleton says cruises between Sydney and Perth, and to New Zealand, have been really popular.
“People are wanting to get more than one holiday in per year and the shorter cruises are perfect for this,’’ he says.
He says cruises are great value for money, given travellers can often skip expensive airfares, and there had been a significantsurge in bookings post-pandemic.
“It’s a safe, convenient and, most importantly, value-for-money way to travel, also new shipsand itineraries have hit Australian shores recently.”
P&O Cruises Australia interim president Peter Little says Australians have realised that cruises are a “cost-effective way to see their own back yard’’.
“Short-break domestic cruises are becoming more popular as they allow people to enjoy a quick and easy getaway with everythingtaken care of for them,’’ he says.
“With no stress about flights, finding activities or travel eating into their precious holiday time, they simply come onboard, unpack and their holiday begins. Our most popular are four-night cruises to Moreton Island from Sydney, four-night cruises to Airlie Beach from Brisbane, and four-night cruises from Melbourne or Adelaide to Kangaroo Island.’’
Hurtigruten’s Asia-Pacific managing director Damian Perry says there are many factors behind cruising’s continued popularity.
“Not least among them, for our guests, is a chance to visit some of the most remote and pristine destinations on Earth and immerse themselves in some amazing and unique experiences along the way – all without having to worry about all the moving parts – they can literally leave it to us to book the entire journey,’’ he says.
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