Hamilton Island has reported its “best year ever” on all commercial fronts with its chief executive confident the market for a close-to-home island holiday will remain strong despite growing overseas competition.
Glenn Bourke told Travel Today that occupancies and revenues at the island resort are soaring.
“Some of that is post-GFC euphoria,” he said. “Many of the guests had been waiting to take their holidays, saving up, tightening their belts over the years and decided that this year was the year.”
Although he recognised strong competition from destinations such as Bali, Fiji and Thailand, Bourke insisted Hamilton’s is a “different offer to some degree” perfectly suited to the time-poor more concerned with finding a quick room than a low room rate.
“Other things in our favour are expedience, currency and safety as opposed to places where you see military juntas or incendiary behaviour,” he said.
The timing of the rebound has worked out well for Hamilton Island, Bourke explained, with a considerable amount of construction undertaken during the quieter GFC period on projects including boutique luxury resort Qualia and the Yacht Club.
“So when the surge started to come, we were able to accommodate it and benefit from it,” he said.
But he admitted that high occupancies bring with them a whole different array of concerns, particularly ensuring the guest experience does not suffer in busy times. However, he highlighted improving TripAdvisor feedback as a sign that the resort has found the right balance.
Creating additional capacity is also on the longer term agenda for the island, with the old Palm Terrace hotel to be converted from staff digs back to guest accommodation over the coming years, with a hotel project on Dent Island to follow.
Meanwhile, the island is committed to working with its Whitsunday neighbours to drive tourism to the area, rather than seeing them as competitors, according to Bourke.
In fact, he stressed that it had been collaboration of the Whitsundays Islands that had contributed to Qantas’ decision to reinstate services from Sydney to Hamilton Island earlier this month, with the new service expected to deliver a considerable boost to tourism.
“It brings competition in the marketplace and keeps fares at a reasonable level, he said, adding that the Qantas brand is well aligned with the destination's offer of quality accommodation.
However, he highlighted the closure of Lindeman Island as a challenge, impacting passenger volumes through the airport.
“We need that volume through the airport to keep the airlines stimulated and engaged.”
