01_QHA_July_Online

FEATURE
SHANE SAID WHEN THE DOORS RE-OPENED THE PENT-UP DEMAND FOR TRAVEL HAD SEEN
THE ROOMS FILL QUICKLY AND THE RESORT STARTED TO TRADE AT A NEW LEVEL.
QHA REVIEW | 18
The O’Reilly’s holdings now include Villa and Retreat
accommodation set out over 10 hectares. They also
manage a new campground at Green Mountains
Camping Area in Lamington National Park, a
project they embarked on in conjunction with the
Queensland Government.
The accommodation occupies just a small part
of the 300 hectares owned by O’Reilly’s which is
surrounded by 20,600 hectares of National Park.
Further down the mountain, O’Reilly’s operate
O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards, serving up
locally made wine, picnics and even an Alpaca
experience courtesy of a partnership with Mountview
Alpaca Farms which is housed within the vineyard’s
grounds.
Like all hospitality businesses O’Reilly’s was put into
a spin in March 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdowns
forced them to close their doors to the public.
For the staff, especially those from an international
background, the news was not all bad.
“We’ve gone ok,” Shane said.
“We’re very lucky. Our international staff… we kept
all of them when we had to shut down. We gave
them free accommodation and free meals and kept
them there. We asked them to do a bit of gardening
a couple of days a week.
“They had nowhere to go – most of them couldn’t
afford to go home – and their flights were cancelled.”
While the business was able to access jobkeeper
for its Australian staff for part of the recovery, the
international staff were not eligible.
Shane said when the doors re-opened the pent-up
demand for travel had seen the rooms fill quickly
and the resort started to trade at a new level.
He said from a tourism perspective it appeared the
regional areas, where there were fewer rooms to fill
than the bigger centres such as Brisbane or the Gold
Coast, were achieving high levels of occupancy.
“I think a lot of the regional places… a lot of western
areas, western towns, you can’t get into them,”
Shane said.
While the regular travellers have come back, Shane
said the conference market had been slower to
return as organisers worried about the chance of
last minute COVID-19 shutdowns and their effect on
interstate attendees and guest speakers.
Speaking to Shane on the day the May lockdowns
took hold in Victoria he said the COVID-19 challenge
continued to be real.
“We’ve had cancellations today – it’s hard for us, it’s
hard for the people who are having to deal with it as
well, of course, it’s their holiday away,” he said.
For those travellers though there is the reassurance
that their money and their bookings are safe.
“We have made it clear to everyone booking with
us – ‘You would not lose your money under any
circumstance’ – however we would prefer, if it’s
possible, to transfer to some other time.
“We’re booked out now until September – if you
haven’t booked for the next few months – you’ve got
no place to stay in.”
One thing that hasn’t come back at O’Reilly’s post-
COVID is the restaurant at the vineyard.
In its place the business has developed a new
offering, gourmet picnics that can be taken away
and eaten under the trees – or even with an alpaca
for company.