REBUILDING THE COAST

The Gold Coast will come out of the gates storming in2022 with an arsenal of new attractions ready to reclaimits mantel as Australia’s tourism capital.

From new theme park attractions to Australia’s newest upscale hotel, the Glitter Strip is armed with plenty of fresh product to give it the edge.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which hit in January 2020 and turned life upside down, had a particularly calamitous impact on the tourism industry, which was worth around $6 billion in 2019.

Having lost more than $4 billion in 2020 and at least another $1 billion in 2021, it’s safe to say the past two years are a time the sector, which directly and indirectly employs more than 100,000 people, would like to forget.

The Lobby at The Dorsett Hotel

But green shoots planted years before the pandemic are set to bloom in early 2022 when border restrictions will become a thing of the past and travellers will again be winging their way back to Queensland.

But now the Gold Coast faces a “knife fight” to secure these travel-starved tourists, with so many other destinations also working to win them over.

Luckily, the city has a big gun which is coming out early: the opening of The Star’s new $400m Dorsett hotel tower on Broadbeach Island.

The Dorsett hotel will open on Boxing Day, with visitors for the 2022 Magic Millions among the first to stay in its 313 rooms.

NEWLY APPOINTED DORSETT GENERAL MANAGER MICHAEL FOSTER SAID THE HOTEL WOULD HELP RESHAPE THE CITY’S SKYLINE AND RELIEVE THE ANNUAL SUMMER ACCOMMODATION SQUEEZE, WHEN THE COAST’S HOTELS NORMALLY REACH 100 PER CENT CAPACITY.

Michael Foster, General Manager of The Dorsett Hotel

“Dorsett Hospitality International saw a great opportunity within the Australian market to launch its brand, especially on the Gold Coast where we have seen huge growth in recent years and we wanted to capitalise on that,” he said.

“Christmas and new year particularly is when it becomes a major destination and we wanted to support events like Magic Millions and the people who loyally follow those sales and races.”

“The Gold Coast has lacked new hotel product for the past few years and bringing in a new upscale hotel was the mission.”

The 53-storey Dorsett supertower, which is the city’s first new large-scale hotel built since 2018, is chock full of luxury features including state-of-the-art environmental control systems in hotel rooms and a range of Covid-safe measures such as paperless check-in.

There are also rooms designed for mobility impaired guests which including larger layouts and raised levels without stairs.

Mr Foster described the Gold Coast as being “on the cutting edge of a new hospitality frontier” in 2022 by offering features which were not present, even in recently built hotels.

The 15-year hospitality veteran said the Dorsett was different from other hotels because it had been designed and fitted-out to create a bespoke experience unique to the Gold Coast.

“The guests get an authentic taste of the Gold Coast as opposed to the cookie cutter experiences which you get through some other global chains,” he said.

“This is not a case of if you’ve been to one Dorsett, you’ve been to them all. They’re all different.”

Mr Foster was tapped for the General Manager post in February 2021 after successfully leading the opening of Brisbane’s Holiday Inn Express.

His career has taken him across the country in an industry which has changed dramatically since the mid-2000s.

The experienced hotelier said it was critical for accommodation providers to adapt to a reality of living with Covid and what that would mean for travel in the future.

“Anyone building hotel these days has to have (Covid) in the forefront of their mind,” he said.

“Travel is different from what it was two years ago and travellers are more conscious about this, so we have made sure to take all of this into account so we can cater to what will become the travel trends of the future.

“Being part of a progressive hotel company with a strong focus on technology has been exceptionally exciting for me.”

Its location in Broadbeach puts it in the midst of a multi-billion wave of tower developments currently rising around the dining and holiday precinct.

Developers, including Star and its partner Destination Gold Coast Consortium, have focused their efforts on the suburb because of its location close to the beach, Pacific Fair shopping centre and its connection to the soon-to-be-extended light rail network.

And the Dorsett is just the beginning of Star’s new offerings in coming years, with the integrated resort complex already expanding.

Construction began in early 2021 on Epsilon, the Dorset’s $450m sister tower.

The 63-storey supertower will also feature a new hotel and residential offering and is expected to open in 2024.

While construction activity is expected to peak in 2023, it is already beginning to rise rapidly from the ground, with hundreds of workers onsite.

Star has approval from the state government for a $2.3 billion masterplan for Broadbeach Island which will allow for up to seven towers to be built there.

No decision has been made on the final three highrises but an announcement is expected to be made in early 2022.