Queensland tourism perfect for Chris Morris, but not Victoria

Computershare founder Chris Morris is a big player in tourism across several states. But he says the industry is facing a major issue.

Chris Morris at Sanctuary Cove. Picture: AAP

It is a tale of two states for Chris Morris.

He may have started share registry business Computershare and built it into a global giant, but these days Morris is keeping a close eye on his tourism assets.

Many are in Queensland, where Morris owns The Ville casino and resort in Townsville and luxury Orpheus Island resort just south of Hinchinbrook Island, the Daintree Eco Lodge and the Nautilus Aviation helicopter business in the state’s north.

In Victoria, he owns a string of pubs and hotels ranging from the Half Moon in Brighton and the Albert Park Hotel in Melbourne to the Portsea Pub down on the Mornington Peninsula, and plenty of others in between.

The contrast between the two states, Morris says, is pretty stark.

Down in Victoria, his pubs have once again closed their doors as the state enters its fourth lockdown to deal with a coronavirus outbreak.

Queensland could not be any more different.

“We’re at a 100 per cent capacity,” Morris tells says. “And we’ve got a waiting list, for the first time ever.

“Usually at this time of year you’re at about 65-70 per cent capacity but we’re full and while we’ve had a few cancellations because of the lockdown in Victoria we’ve just gone to the waiting list. They’re coming from everywhere, not just internally in Queensland.”

But with Australia’s international borders remaining shut to guest workers and international students, Morris says there is an issue when it comes to finding staff.

“We’re all poaching each other’s staff,” he says. “There is a lot of staff movement. It is impossible (to find new staff to move to the regions).

“It is the single biggest issue for the industry at the moment. And it will not change until we get more backpackers back in the country.”

Morris says tourists are typically spending a few days on secluded Orpheus Island, where 28 guests are accommodated at any one time, and then travelling to Daintree Ecolodge in the rainforest of the same name and Mt Mulligan Lodge on a 28,000 hectare site accessible via helicopter or 4WD from Townsville.

“This is one thing Covid has done: make people realise what they have here in Australia,” says Morris. “Why sit on a plane for 28 hours and go somewhere else when you have something like this in your own backyard.

“And we haven’t had to do a lot of advertising to be full either. A lot of the bookings have been via word of mouth from the guests we have already had here. So we’re getting a lot of people who are visiting all three of the properties.”

Morris says bookings are solid for his luxury 105 foot superyacht Flying Fish, which has a helipad on board and is available for day charters on the Great Barrier Reef, but without international tourists the Nautilus Aviation helicopter business in Queensland’s north is not seeing the booking levels it did before Covid. The Townsville casino, Morris says, is also performing well.

But it is a different story in Victoria, where the state was locked down last Friday.

Morris says it took some time to recover from the previous long lockdown, with government restrictions on capacity meaning full openings for some of his pubs took time.

But during autumn capacity was nearly what it was before Covid, as Melburnians got out and enjoyed the city’s renowned hospitality venues.

“Victoria has been a bit unlucky this time around,” Morris says.

“No one is really to blame and it is such as shame what is happening.”

Morris last year sold about $11m of Computershare stock to help pay for annual leave and long service leave entitlements for staff at the The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville, but otherwise maintains his large shareholding.

In April this year, Morris shelled out $14m to participate in the retail component of Computershare’s pro rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer, part of an overall $835 million raising for the acquisition of Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services for $US750 million.

Morris holds almost 6 per cent of Computershare, which is up about 9 per cent this year and 22 per cent in the past 12 months.