‘Booked till Easter’: luxury stays roar back from Covid slump

Cashed-up, holiday-starved Australians are driving unprecedented demand for properties worth tens of thousands of dollars a week.

Noosa’s Russian-inspired Domic property.

The luxury accommodation sector is roaring back to life as holiday-starved Australians – holding a record $13.9 trillion in household wealth – fuel unprecedented demand for many high-end operators.

In popular areas bookings are outstripping pre-Covid levels, and many luxury resorts and holiday rentals have no vacancies until Easter.

Pent-up demand is allowing many operators to regain losses from earlier bookings cancelled because of lockdown and border closures, with tariffs on premium offerings up by as much as 50 per cent over previous summers.

Queensland accommodation providers have been among the biggest winners, with about half a million visitors flowing into the state since its borders opened mid-December.

Aspire Property Management founder David Langdon said tariffs for many luxury properties were up to 50 per cent higher than previous years in Noosa as cashed-up Australians spent up.

“There is a lot more of an emotional factor driving bookings after many families spent 2021 in lockdown, and as a result people are prepared to spend big to get a holiday away from it all,” he said.

“We are fully booked out up until Australia Day and bookings after that are 50 per cent more than we have ever seen.”

Travel agencies are reporting that Australians are splashing the cash on luxury accommodation offerings after household wealth grew to an all-time high during recent lockdowns on the east coast. September quarter figures released by the ABS in December show household wealth grew by $590bn in the quarter to $13.9 trillion – an all-time high – on the back of savings and soaring property prices.

Commonwealth Bank also reported spending on travel rose 14.7 per cent on its Household Spending Intentions index in December.

“There are only so many renovations and new cars people can buy,” Jones & Turner Travel Associates consultant Ann-Catherine Jones said. “You would be amazed at the levels of money people are prepared to spend.”

Accor Pacific CEO Simon McGrath said the large hotel and resort chain was experiencing significant pent-up demand, with luxury offerings the most sought after.

“Our luxury five-star leisure resort in the holiday hotspot of the Sunshine Coast, Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort, was full between Christmas and New Year and is now filling fast for the entire first quarter of 2022, right up until Easter,” Mr McGrath said.

Queensland-based Niche Luxury Accommodation managing director Sue Willis said pent-up demand over Christmas-New Year was welcome news after border closures dried up reservations in 2021.

“As 80 per cent of our guests come from southern states, almost all of our bookings dried up when Queensland threw up the hard border in the middle of the year,” she said.

Ms Willis said instead of being booked out for three weeks over Christmas, her 200 properties around Noosa were almost all reserved for the coming year, with the premium offerings the most popular.

“Bookings are unbelievably strong for the Russian-inspired home, Domic, which goes for up to $100,000 per week,” she said.

Flight Centre Australia managing director James Kavanagh said Australia’s largest travel agency had seen a sharp rise in the number of travellers seeking luxury accommodation in the wake of the pandemic.

“Where people can travel they are prepared to spend more to simply have a holiday after 2021,” he said.

“Queensland has been the most popular destination for Australians simply because of that borders have been closed for so long.”

Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said luxury accommodation was driving the region’s recovery, which has been hit hard by internal border closures and a ban on international tourists.

“Luxury accommodation occupancy is about 90 per cent at the moment compared to 70 per cent non-premium products,” he said.

“Many businesses are still struggling in the area.”