Queensland is a paradise for adventure seekers and this should be good news for the players in the hotel sector, but not all of Queensland's hotel markets are having the same bright and sunny charm.
Queensland is enjoying the surge of tourists in popular destinations like Noosa, Cairns and Port Douglas. The state is known as the "Sunshine State" with so many great tourists' attractions to offer from deep sea diving to camping and anything else in between. Any adventurous traveler must go to Queensland. In these areas, hotel owners and operators are enjoying big returns in the hotspots of Queensland. Unfortunately, it's not a fairy tale story for the rest of the state. The resource-depended towns such as Rockhampton and Mackay are seeing quite the opposite when it comes to demand for hotel rooms.
Many resource-dependent towns in the state are still suffering from the downturn in the mining sector. According to Commercial Real Estate, the towns like Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay are seeing falling numbers for hotel performance revenue per available room (revPAR), a metric that measures demand for hotels. RevPAR for these places are falling 10 percent.
According to ABC, Rockhampton's CBD still takes the big hit from the mining slump and the Queensland drought and more than 50 shops are empty. Vacancy is on the rise in Rochkampton but it was also said that rent still remains the biggest business killer. Towns in Queensland like Rockhampton is struggling to attract businesses, how much more demand for hotel rooms.
According to Commercial Real Estate, Federal Tourism Minister Richard Colbeck said that the Queensland's hotspots are calling for more investments to boost supply of about 34,000 new hotel rooms while the mining regions need to find other reasons to attract visitors that will boost hotel performance.
On the other hand, Simon McGrath, chief operating office of Accor Australia, the country's biggest hotel operator calls for better events calendar in Brisbane. He argues that the growth in RevPAR does not immediately result to additional investment in new hotels in these markets. It is suggested that the government should proactively encourage activities to balance growth and demand of hotel rooms throughout the state and most especially in the mining regions.
