Whitsundays Resorts up for Sale

Fancy your own Great Barrier Reef island resort? All you need is a spare $20 million and one could be yours. In fact, two Queensland resorts are up for sale in the Whitsundays, and with the region experiencing a resurge in tourism, there's never been a better time to buy.

For sale signs are going up at Club Crocodile Airlie Beach Resort on the mainland as well as on Long Island Resort, located 7km off the coast of Queensland. Having been closed for the last 12 months for proposed renovations, Long Island Resort carries a $20 million price tag, while Club Crocodile is expected to attract up to $9 million.

Both resorts offer an impressive array of accommodation and facilities. Club Crocodile offers a total of 161 rooms close to the beachfront and recently completed a $1.3 million refurbishment. Long Island Resort features 172 rooms as well as 41 staff lodging rooms, a helipad, 2 swimming pools, boat moorings, a tennis court, mini-golf course, café, bar and restaurant, function room, gift shop and spa.

Ocean Hotels is the long-time owner of both resorts and says that after approximately two decades of ownership, it's selling the resorts to focus on its Cairns cruise business. However this is not the first time the company has tried to sell Club Crocodile, with the resort on the market around five years ago after the region's tourism industry was hit hard by the fallout from the GFC and a high Australian dollar.

Thanks to the revival of the Whitsundays tourism industry, commercial real estate agency CBRE Hotels expects strong interest from international buyers. The softer Australian dollar has boosted tourist numbers and doubled Chinese visitors, making conditions favourable for cashed up international investors.

Also helping to boost tourist numbers are development plans for the Whitsundays Airport, which is this year set to become the sixth international airport in Queensland, operating direct charter services overseas.

(30th March 2016)