The Whitsundays Tourism Opportunity Plan - Tourism Queensland

harness interest from surfboarders, wakeboarders, skateboarders
and snowboarders alike that are passing through the region.
With over 500,000 visitors utilising the existing Airlie Beach lagoon
annually, the water park project and the wave/flow rider experience
can be expected to increase visitation to Airlie Beach. As this is an
all year round visitor experience, the potential exists to attract a
large number of fee paying users which is expected to make the
wave/flow rider an attractive commercial venture.
Opportunity:
To work with Whitsunday Regional Council to ensure that the
wave/flow rider attraction is integrated into the water park
experience;
To seek expressions of interest from well experienced operators
to supply and operate the attraction;
To ensure that the design and operations of the wave/flow
rider entirely complement the new water park attraction being
developed;
To determine an appropriate commercial lease arrangement
with Whitsunday Regional Council for the commercial operator;
and
Where possible, to ensure that the construction and fit out for
the wave/flow rider occurs in tandem with the construction of
the water park as an integrated project.
5.3 Airlie Beach Tourist Precinct
This project recognises the need for greater connectivity between
the Airlie Beach main street, foreshore area, lagoon, Port of Airlie
development precinct, a proposed lookout and visitor centre, the
botanic gardens and bicentennial walk, and a proposed marine
discovery centre. Airlie Beach is currently characterised by:
Development which traditionally has supported a backpacker
and younger aged visitor market;
A streetscape with little design appeal;
A lack of sense of being one of the gateways to the Great
Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands;
Having constraints on storm water run off capacity etc;
Extensive apartment development which has changed the
beach holiday village feel; and
Traffic congestion along Shute Harbour Road.
While Airlie Beach has the potential to be a primary tourism node
and an attractive destination of State significance, currently it is not
fulfilling this role. This integration of Airlie Beach aims to:
Integrate the Airlie Beach main street with the lagoon and
waterfront by providing far stronger street and laneway
connectivity with attractive and safe walkways;
More detailed planning of side streets;
Addressing storm water capacity issues;
Addressing electricity supply issues;
Introducing effective traffic calming measures to make Shute
Harbour Road at Airlie Beach more pedestrian friendly;
Introduction of design guidelines to improve the street and
urban design aesthetics, particularly to reflect a more relaxed
holiday image (including a colour scheme which conveys some
sense of uniformity and uniqueness);
Addressing car parking issues by creating more off street
parking options including car parking stations;
Ensuring that Shute Harbour Road is upgraded from Airlie
Beach to Shute Harbour to cope with future traffic movements
which boat trailer parks and other developments will generate in
the future;
Address directional and interpretative signage needs to
promote island and mainland attractions;
Enhance street furniture, soft landscaping and lighting;
Develop facilities to retain and grow the backpacker market, as
well as other higher yielding target markets; and
Link Airlie Beach with Cannonvale ensuring that view shafts to
the water are not lost and that vegetation is introduced to avoid
urban ribbon development occurring. The end result will be a
unique, cohesive built environment which stands out from other
State coastal towns and which appeals to visitor markets and
residents alike.
Opportunity:
Whitsunday Regional Council and State Government agencies
along with industry groups and community to develop an
implementation program for the integration of Airlie Beach;
A civil works program to be created based on the various
components of urban design work that have already been
undertaken;
To create walkways and cycle ways as a priority with attractive
way finding signage;
To address future car parking needs through a detailed traffic –
parking demand study; and
To identify locations on walkways for small scale events and
activity nodes for signage, sculptures and art work, as part of
the integration.
5.4 Airlie Beach Community, Event and
Conference Venue
Whilst the Whitsundays offers a variety of stunning water based
experiences for much of the year, there are times when sea
conditions and seasonality necessitate all-weather attractions
to offer an alternative experience for visitors as well as locals.
A multipurpose facility is required to fill this need and to offer a
number of important components to help grow tourism for the
Whitsundays including:
Conferencing facilities with break out/meeting rooms;
A cinema facility which can also double as an auditorium for
visiting shows and the local theatre group;
A major car parking station to alleviate the current traffic
congestion and parking problems in Airlie Beach;
A safe haven as a cyclone evacuation centre ‘from conference
venue hire, renting space for major events, offering longer term
car parking spaces to businesses in Airlie Beach, generated
from a cinema as well as through the lease of space to local
special interest groups.
Whitsunday Regional Council has already identified a location
adjacent to Shute Harbour Road in Airlie Beach on land that may be
suitable for this purpose.
5 Catalyst Projects
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