Australian and Gold Coast Holidays In The Current Economic Climate

Most of Australia’s best holiday destinations are on its east coast. With the bulk of the country’s population living in the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, it is really convenient to travel to the closest destinations, especially during the current credit crisis and while the Aussie dollar is low against the greenback. Queensland travel destinations like the Whitsunday Islands and the Gold Coast are showing a marked resilience to the current drop off in tourist numbers. Gold Coast accommodation has been in high demand over the Christmas and New Year periods despite predictions that there would be high vacancy factors. There has not yet been many signs in the domestic travel market in these regions that a recession is looming.

The main tourist areas on the Gold Coast like Surfers paradise, Broadbeach and Main beach have been fully booked over the Christmas, New Year break. Reports from tour operators on Fraser Island say that conditions are actually booming. Managing director of the Fraser Island co. Mr. Shane Boyd said they were experiencing their busiest holiday period for over five years and there were still plenty of inbound group bookings out of Europe, well into the New Year. The level of the Australian dollar against the Euro was obviously having a positive effect, he said. The Whitsunday Islands are always a popular tourist destination for Australians because it is so easy to get to. With a domestic airport on Hamilton Island you can fly right to the resort and it can’t get any easier than that. Regular daily flights operate from all southern capitals.

While the immediate future of the economy is still running into uncharted water, it is still a little uncertain how levels of participation in the travel industry will be affected however a low Australian Dollar is positive for both domestic and international visits alike so hopefully the impact in 2009 will not be as dire as some pundits have been predicting.