Star chair eyes decade-long 2032 Olympic Games tourism boost

Hotel and casino operator Star Entertainment said it is ready for a massive tourism wave that comes with hosting the mega-event.

An artist impression of Brisbane’s Queens Wharf project.

Hotel and casino operator Star Entertainment is set to capitalise on a decade-long tourism boost after Queensland secured the winning bid for the 2032 Olympics which will for the first time see the games held across multiple cities.

With Star partway through a multibillion-dollar upgrade of its hotels and casinos across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the mega-event is expected to deliver sustained tourism in the lead up, according to chairman and key games advocate John O’Neill.

Mr O’Neill, a long-time sports administrator and an adviser to the Queensland bid, plans to put in a pitch to host International Olympic Committee members and to provide the official Olympic hotels.

With international tourism potentially not fully opening up until 2023 or even 2024, Mr O’Neill sees the Star properties as ideally placed to attract overseas visitors keen to see the Games cities as well as take advantage of Queensland’s pitch for Australia as a safe, healthy tourist destination.

Brisbane’s Southbank as the city is named for the 2032 Olympics. Picture: Peter Wallis

“We are full of excitement and can’t wait,” Mr O’Neill said. “We are at the front of the queue in supporting this momentous decision and can see positive outcomes for the state of Queensland,” he said on Wednesday.

“There is so much free advertising that comes from hosting an Olympics if you are a tourism operator like us,” he said.

Westpac Business Bank chief economist, Besa Deda forecasts a $17bn economic boost from hosting an Olympic Games.

“In the case of the 2032 Games, it is possible we will see at least $17bn of economic and social benefits for Australia, with around $8bn of that flowing into Queensland,” she said.

By comparison the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games were estimated to inject around $6bn into the Australian economy.

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the 2032 Olympic Games represent “an aspirational goal that reminds us that there is a positive future ahead”.

“We have eleven years to put our best foot forward to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity to welcome the world to this beautiful state in 2032,” he said.

Star’s Mr O’Neill said that Star had been a long-time believer in the tourism and business potential of southeast Queensland.

“We are investing $6bn in southeast Queensland with the Queens Wharf project, which costs around $3.6bn and is set to open in the second half of next year,” he said.

The group also refurbished the former Jupiter’s casino at the Gold Coast and is working on two new adjacent luxury and hotel and apartment towers as part of a $2bn master plan for the site.

The Star Entertainment Group’s John O'Neill. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mr O’Neill said the Olympic decision would attract more international tourism to the two properties once international borders opened up with tourists keen to see the Olympic cities.

“Let’s say that the resumption of international visitors to Australia is another two or three years away.

“It will take us through to 2024 or 2025 which is only seven years away from the Olympics.”

He said he expected there would be increased interest in the region from 2028 after the end of the Los Angeles Olympics.

“After that time, all of the Queens Wharf Brisbane development and two new luxury hotel and apartment towers will be completed and driving substantial increased visitation to the state.”

The Queens Wharf development in Brisbane, which Star is undertaking in a joint venture with the Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook and Far East Corporation, involves four new hotels, more than 50 restaurants, bars and cafes, a 100m Sky Deck, residential apartments and luxury retail.

The Gold Coast redevelopment includes a $400m 53-storey Dorsett hotel and apartment tower.

Construction on a second 63-storey tower is also underway.

When finished, the two new towers will sit alongside the Star Grand and The Darling, providing four up-market hotels on Broadbeach Island by 2024.

The masterplan also allows for a further three towers on Broadbeach Island.

Mr O’Neill, who has run Rugby Australia and Football Australia and is close to Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, has been a long-time adviser to the Queensland bid for the Games.

Scenes at Kings Beach Caloundra as Brisbane is announced as the host of the 2032 Olympic Games. Picture Lachie Millard

He hosted a dinner at Star’s casino on the Gold Coast in May 2019 with IOC president Thomas Bach and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and was part of the official Queensland delegation to the Olympic capital of Lausanne in Switzerland in September 2019.

The company was also a major sponsor of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.

“I can only applaud the decision,” he said.

“I have been involved in the Queensland bid and we are also a very significant investor in southeast Queensland.

“This hits the sweet spot for us.”

Mr O’Neill said his group was a “big backer” of a significant expansion of tourism in Australia had “faith and trust that interstate and international tourism levels will return to normal after Covid”.

He said it was unheard of in Olympic circles to have an 11-year lead-up to a Games.

In the past decisions including the selection of Sydney as the site of the 2000 Games in 1993, the choice of the host city was made with a seven-year lead-up.

Concerned to secure the future of the Games, the IOC has already chosen Paris as the host for the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles as the 2028.

The official line is that Queensland now has a “green and gold runway” towards the 2032 Games.

“The Olympics will give us a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase Brisbane and southeast Queensland.

He said it would be important for Australia to capitalise on being in the rare position of a country hosting its third Olympics.

“We need to get on the front foot and start selling Australia.

“We have got a beautiful country,” he said.

“Post Covid we will be seen as a safe and health place with a great health system where people can come and enjoy the natural beauty we have.”

He said that Star will be pitching to accommodate members of the Olympic family in its hotels.

“There will be a need for a lot of hotel rooms. We will be well placed.”