Brisbane lags despite Qld’s spectacular tourism rebound

While hotel occupancy figures in many Queensland markets are now better than before the coronavirus pandemic, Brisbane is still lagging behind.

Queensland’s tourism industry has made a spectacular rebound with hotel occupancy figures now better than before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the country’s biggest accommodation operator.

Date from Accor, which runs more than 100 Queensland hotels and resorts across a number of brands including Peppers, Mantra and Sofitel, has revealed hotel occupancy for the period from January to March outstripped figures from the same time frame in 2019.

However, speaking in Brisbane, Accor’s new CEO for the Pacific Sarah Derry said the state capital was lagging behind the recovery and more effort was needed to bring the city back to life.

Ms Derry said the company’s room occupancy across the state was 70 per cent – higher than the same period in the 2019, but the results were being underpinned by strong showings in the regions, while Brisbane was still struggling to burst back to life.

Brisbane is still lacking tourists. Picture: David Clark

“It’s the same story whether it’s Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, but the cities are still a lot quieter than we would hope,” she said.

“The cities are central to how we operate so we do need them to come back.”

She said investment in events would help give people reason to stay in Brisbane rather than heading straight to regions such as the Gold or Sunshine Coast.

“The corporate travellers who would normally fill cities have been slow to return, so we need people to have other reasons to visit, whether that’s from galleries or festivals or events, further investment from government.

“We are all in this together.”

A lack of events and business travel has Accor’s Brisbane hotel occupancy still operating 25 per cent less than before the pandemic, while people choosing to continue working from home were also contributing to a lack of buzz in the CBD.

However, the news has been far better on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, which have been shining lights in the weeks since the Omicron surge threatened to ruin the summer holidays.

21-year-old Antonella Fenneck relaxes by the pool while holidaying at the Sofitel in Noosa. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ms Derry said Queensland was set to lead tourism’s recovery from Covid, especially as international travel starts to return.

“The results reveal that Australians love to travel to Queensland,” she said.

“A combination of greater certainty regarding borders, an increase in flights, State and Federal stimulus measures, and a range of targeted marketing programs have significantly elevated holiday travel to Queensland in 2022.”

North Queensland – which traditionally relies on international tourists, has also been slow to rebound, though according to Accor, numbers were strong through February.

Ms Derry said she was optimistic that the industry’s recovery would gather momentum heading into the back end of the year.

“I’m quite excited about the year ahead,” she said.

“For next year my very dear hope is that we stop comparing ourselves to 2019 … and that we start comparing it to 2022.”

Originally published as Brisbane lags despite Qld’s spectacular tourism rebound