Sun shines on Queensland holiday accommodation market
The sun is shining on Queensland’s holiday market, with a hot summer marking a shift from recent gloomy seasons.
JLL figures shows the Sunshine State accommodation market picked up in the past peak season after several quiet years thanks to poor weather and a high Australian dollar.
Great Barrier Reef island resorts had a strong summer, with revenue per available room surging 21.8% to $250.
“This was the highest growth over the three month period for any Australian accommodation market and represents a welcome change of fortunes compared to recent years,” says Karen Wales, JLL Executive Vice President – Research & Consultancy – Hotels & Hospitality Group.
“On average room rates across the Greater Barrier Reef island resorts were 15% higher than Sydney’s five-star hotels throughout the peak summer season,” she says.
“This bodes well for trading throughout the rest of the year and highlights how Queensland is back on the map as a must-see tourist destination.”
The figures from JLL – previously known as Jones Lang LaSalle – cover four key holiday markets – Brisbane, Cairns, the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef island resorts.
JLL’s Executive Vice President – Strategic Advisory, Hotels & Hospitality Group – Julian Whiston says Queensland’s holiday markets “are clearly back in vogue”.
Whiston says a drop in the Australian dollar, improvements in the Queensland economy and more tourism from Asia would further help the market.
And he says while Brisbane’s market is starting to stabilize, it will be dependent on how well the corporate and conference segments recover.
“Whilst the G20 summit in November will provide a welcome boost to Brisbane trading in 2014, accommodation development projects have also progressed and it may prove more challenging to absorb this new supply against the current trading backdrop,” he says.
“Eight projects are currently under construction, scheduled for completion over the next couple of years and a further five proposed projects are expected to start construction within the near future.”
