Tourism Infrastructure

Leveraging from the $1 billion spent by overseas visitors in 2007, Brisbane Marketing, guided by the Queensland Government’s Regional Tourism Infrastructure and Investment Plan, acts as a catalyst for change by working with Tourism Queensland, local councils and industry bodies to determine future directions for the region that will facilitate ongoing tourism investment.

Brisbane Marketing is already leading several projects including the Moreton Bay & Islands Tourism Infrastructure Plan and is assisting Brisbane City Council with the development of the Mt Coot-tha master plan. And through its 2009 Brisbane Hotel Investment Analysis conducted by KPMG, the team is linking investors and developers for the development of five star hotels to counter Brisbane’s historically high occupancy rate.

Other opportunities for investment include Moreton Bay & Islands eco-tourism and resort accommodation, marine transport infrastructure, and high-profile tourist attractions.

Moreton Bay Terminal

Brisbane’s Moreton Bay & Islands represents a significantly underutilized nature based tourism asset on the doorstep of Australia’s fastest growing capital city.

Currently, the high-value international and interstate visitor markets are inhibited from visiting the region due to the lack of connectivity that exists between the central Brisbane area and Moreton Bay.

In order to address this lack of connectivity, Investment Attraction division, along with the Queensland Government through the Regional Tourism Infrastructure and Investment Plan, has proposed greater utilization of the Brisbane River in accessing the bay.

Specifically, the Investment Attraction division is promoting the development of an integrated common user terminal on the Brisbane River to connect visitors from the central Brisbane area with the tour operators and transport providers that are currently active in the Bay.

In order to assess the viability of this concept, and determine the most appropriate location for, and form of, the proposed terminal, consultants have been appointed to complete a feasibility study. This report is due for completion in March 2009.

Brisbane Hotel Market

Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, is currently one of the fastest growing cities in Australia in terms of population, job growth, infrastructure investment, and business investment. It is also home to the fastest growing airport in Australia, servicing over 10 million domestic and 3 million international visitors per year.

The increase in business activity in Brisbane, driven primarily by the corporate sector including the conference market and a healthy growth in tourism visitation in recent years, has brought a substantially increased demand for short term accommodation within the city.

Some other key demand drivers of accommodation include:

• New Cruise Ship Terminal (increased Cruise Ship visitation)
• Growing events schedule
• $4.6 million interstate promotional campaign
• Australia Trade Coast Industry and Trade Precinct
• Brisbane Convention Centre expansion
• Growing VFR (Visiting friends and relatives) market

According to Deloitte, Brisbane’s average occupancy rate of 84.3% in 2007 ranked Brisbane hotels as the 4th busiest in the world. This data suggests that the city of Brisbane is faced with a critical undersupply of short-term accommodation.

Given that the availability of suitable accommodation plays an integral role in the economic development of a city, in order for Brisbane to maintain its competitiveness in the lucrative international tourism, business and conventions markets, it is necessary to increase the City’s centrally located hotel accommodation capacity.

The Investment Attraction team is working with hotel operators, developers, local consultants, Brisbane City Council, and the Queensland Government to identify and facilitate solutions to the current shortage.