The Property Council of Australia and CBRE warns Brisbane needs a further 10,000 hotel rooms by 2032 to meet demand. Currently, the development pipeline only accounts for less than a quarter of that goal.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Natassia Wheeler it was time to “get wild with our ideas”.
“At this point we know that our hotels will be full,” she told the Courier Mail.
“Why can’t we drag in two or three cruise ships? That could get you 7000 extra rooms straight up.
“So we will still need more hotels, we need more beds, but for that shorter term with 2032, we need to find a solution.”
Currently, Brisbane’s international cruise terminal only has capacity for one ship at a time. Potentially, other vessels could moor in Moreton Bay, with ferries shuttling between the city.
But an expansion of the terminal could boost Brisbane ahead of Sydney as the nation’s top cruise destination.
Port of Brisbane CEO Neil Stephens said it was critical to begin planning with cruise industry stakeholders as soon as possible.
“The tourism and hotels industry seems unanimous in its view that there will not be enough accommodation to cover the short-term requirements of the Games,” he said.
“If that’s the case, we need to move swiftly to engage with the cruise sector to determine how they can help.”
Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Jarrod Bleijie said the current tourism roadmap set a target of delivering 2000 new hotel rooms each year over the next decade.
“We’ve approved new tourism and ecotourism projects that deliver more hotel rooms, including at the Southport Spit, Dreamworld masterplan, the Visy site in South Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast,” he said in a statement.
