Australia Accommodation
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Queensland Tourism Devastated by Floods
The Queensland tourism industry was praying for a bumper Christmas-New Year bonanza to lift revenue badly impacted in recent times by the strong Australian dollar, GFC, slow domestic traffic, unrealised tourism promotions and the lure of overseas destinations; instead it has been hit by the worst possible scenario.
Queensland's worst ever floods are expected to cost the tourism industry well over $100 million as vast areas remain under water.
The drive market, in particular, has been devastated by road closures and evacuations of holiday parks throughout the state. Many areas, particularly Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Emerald and Dalby, have suffered total inundation and losses in the industry will be extreme.
Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism chairman Greg Barnes wants prospective visitors to know Bundaberg is open for business and needs people’s support.
Mr Barnes said since the new year, some operators had up to 40% of their bookings cancelled. “The flooding was a devastating event but from a tourism perspective we are back up and running,” he said.
“The highways are open, hotels are taking bookings and the roads in the CBD are open.”
Kelly’s Beach Resort in Bargara is just one of the region’s businesses to be hit with a number of cancellations. “Since the start of the new year people just started cancelling left, right and centre,” managing director Loni Hammond said.
“This is usually our busiest time, so it is pretty scary.”
"We shut down for a few days, then the water started to recede and we reopened because so many people couldn't get back out of town," said Brian Zemek, acting manager of the Burnett Riverside Quality Hotel. "Everyone is just trying to get the town up and running."
Hotel and motel managers are reporting very high vacancy rates across Gladstone, however, not from tourists coming to Gladstone, but from people trying to get to Rockhampton. Every day the Gladstone Marina has been packed with Central Queensland locals either coming to Gladstone or leaving for Rockhampton.
Gladstone Regional Council director of commercial and community services Cale Dendle said the Gladstone region has had its share of festive season travellers and visitors stranded, or unable to continue journeys. “Obviously, the closure of the Bruce Highway through Rockhampton also means that Gladstone is now the northern-most provincial city accessible by road from the south,” Mr Dendle said.
Mr Dendle added the closure of Rockhampton Airport has resulted in increased activity at the Gladstone Airport.
“The Capricorn Coast's peak 10-day trade over the Christmas and New Year period has on average suffered a 50% occupancy loss followed by a 70% loss for the remainder of January,'' said Capricorn Tourism and Economic Development’s CEO Mary Carroll.
Ms Carroll says the flooding has had a massive impact on all sectors including tourism, retail, mining, transport and real estate. "There's not one business that hasn't been affected from these floods whether directly or indirectly.”
Tourism Whitsundays chief executive officer Peter O’Reilly said caravan park operators and the backpacker market had been hardest hit since roads were cut due to widespread floodwaters.
“It’s obliterated the drive market,” Mr O’Reilly said. “One caravan park had 200 cancellations.”
The Airlie Beach Hotel had 170 room cancellations over the New Year’s period. General manager Mark Bell said some people didn’t travel to the Whitsundays because the roads were flooded, while others were reluctant to come in case they couldn’t get home again.
Mackay Tourism general manager Dave Phillips said Mackay accommodation providers had been getting a lot of cancellations since the floods hit. “People can’t get here, however, some people already here can’t move on,” Mr Phillips said.
Greyhound chief operating officer Tony Hopkins said services to many regional Queensland areas have been disrupted due to severe flooding and road closures. All customers booked on the affected services have been informed by call centre staff in advance and are able to open date their ticket for future travel.
Rockhampton Airport remains closed, with operations not expected to resume until at least January 11. QantasLink has already cancelled all flights to and from Rockhampton with further disruptions expected once the clean up begins. Brisbane Airport Corporation has pledged its support by donating $250,000 to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal.
The CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, Daniel Gschwind, says while the floods could cost the tourism industry $100 million the perceptual damage could be even greater.
“We don't know how many perception issues we will have to deal with, with people from interstate or possibly overseas concluding that going to Queensland is not a good idea, despite the fact that our major tourism destinations are perfectly fine and open for business.
We are very worried people will draw the wrong conclusion and assume the entire state of Queensland is somehow under water.
“We are a perception-driven industry and that often causes us more damage than the actual event, and that's a great concern to us.''
The difficulty, he says, is to get the message out that while the flood disaster is serious and businesses in the impact zones are suffering greatly, the majority of the state's tourism hot spots are unaffected.
Mr Gschwind said operators in the flood zones were really hurting.
“The regions around Rockhampton and Bundaberg contribute about $550 million to the economy in any given year,'' he said. “You take out effectively what will be a month, possibly two, you are talking in the tens - possibly up to $100 million of lost business just from those regions alone.''
Prime minister Julia Gillard and premier Anna Bligh have announced that small businesses and primary producers in 13 local government areas will be eligible to receive grants of up to $25,000 for clean up and recovery.
This targeted financial assistance will help them minimise their economic losses as they embark on the very difficult recovery period that lies ahead and help businesses start trading as soon as possible.
The grants will be made available immediately to Banana, Barcaldine, Bundaberg, Somerset, Central Highlands, Cherbourg, Lockyer Valley, North Burnett, Scenic Rim, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Western Downs and Woorabinda. Toowoomba has been added since the original announcement.
For small business Category C grants will help operators resume trading as soon as possible, including establishment costs in temporary premises. Category C assistance does not compensate for income losses and is not intended to replace insurance. The grant scheme will run until 30 September 2011.
Concessional interest rate loans of up to $250,000 for small business operators and primary producers, as well as freight subsidies of up to $5000, are available.
The additional grants come on top of the range of assistance already being provided by both the Queensland government and the Australian government. The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment is available for people who have been significantly impacted by the floods.
Death toll from Queensland flood waters on the rise
Floods waters are threatening the Queensland capital of Brisbane as the state continues to suffer from weeks of heavy tropical storms.
There are already eight people confirmed dead, half of them children, and 72 are still confirmed as missing.
Eight thousand Brisbane properties are at risk of being engulfed by the flood waters according to Brisbane city council. The threat is so serious that two riverside restaurants in Brisbane’s CBD have evacuated their businesses in preparation for rising flood waters.
Heavy rains and flash flooding savaged Toowoomba yesterday, with four people confirmed dead and dozens more missing. "This is without doubt our darkest hour in the past fortnight." Said Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.
What has been described by some as an inland tsunami took everyone totally by surprise. One eyewitness said people stood in stunned silence in Toowoomba city centre.
"It was kind of like everyone had just stopped ... standing in the middle of the road looking around," she said. "There were cars upside down, washed away, roads caved in... just crazy scenes."
Parts of the Sunshine Coast, one of Queensland’s main tourist regions, are also being threatened by rising river levels. A flood warning for the area has been reissued and a number of roads have been closed.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Relax in Brisbane this summer 08/12/2010
This summer, Brisbane comes alive with the sights and sounds of a range of world-class entertainment, international sporting matches and exclusive exhibitions that are sure to create one of the city’s most memorable summers in the past decade.
The city has already got the jump on the rest of the country by hosting the opening test match of the 2010 – 2011 Ashes cricket series.
While 21st Century: Art in the First Decade (Saturday 18 December to Tuesday 26 April) at the Gallery of Modern Art will celebrate works created and acquired between 2000 and 2010, the Woodford Folk Festival (Monday 27 December to Saturday 1 January) will mark a milestone of its own.
The Festival’s 25th Anniversary program is arguably the most exciting ever presented line-up, promising an epic journey into the kaleidoscope of Australian culture. With 620 national and international acts performing in 22 venues across Brisbane, the streets will also come alive with roving street theatre, parades, art and spontaneous performances throughout each day and night festival.
Read the full article at Metro Hotels News
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Brisbane Set to Rock in 2011
Queenslands' capital city goes by the nickname BrisVegas for a very good reason.
In 2011, Brisbane is set to rock all year long with a stellar line up of international artists and theatre productions that one would normally associate with the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas.
2010 will end on a high note with Linkin Park, Stereosonic, Gorillaz, Muse, U2, Blondie & The Pretenders, Human Nature, Jack Johnson, The Eagles and Bon Jovi all set to light up the stage during December. Queenslanders then will have very little time to let their Christmas lunch digest before they will be enticed to get up and party once more at the Woodford Folk Festival held over New Years.
If you are looking for something a little more energetic then Tommy & Phil Emmanuel performs at The Tivoli as part of their 50th Anniversary Tour, or you can rock out to Tool, Joe Cocker, Sting, Soundwave, Sunset Sounds music festival, Raggamuffin, Future Music Festival, Roxy Music and The Chemical Brothers all before the first games kicks off for the new NRL season. Then things really start to heat up with Beyond the Darkside, Usher and his OMC Tour, Good Charlotte, The Script, Disturbed, Maroon 5, Katy Perry California Dreams Tour and BIGSOUND 2011 which returns to Brisbane after a record breaking year in 2011.
For those of you who like a little more laid back entertainment then 2011 is also your year. You will be able to sing along with the Kenny Rogers and Neil Diamond, feel the love with Michael Buble or enjoy some good old fashion country music with US country music legend Alan Jackson.
2011 also brings a host of major stage and theatrical productions to Brisbane. January kicks off with the international stage sensation WICKED, which has played to sell-out theatres around the world. This magical production is set to wow audiences up until April. This is followed by the Brisbane Comedy Festival, World Theatre Festival, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and a return by the every popular and ever spectacular Andre Rieu.
And to cap things off there are two exciting productions for the kids. The time-honoured stories of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast will spring from the storybooks and onto the stage in Disney Live! Mickey and his friends will journey through 'happily ever after' and discover the classic stories of three celebrated Disney Princesses.
Read the Full article at Metro Hotels News
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