QHA_August-2021-Digital

FEATURE
SINCE THE DOORS FIRST OPENED IN 1997 THE RESORT HAS OPERATED 24 HOURS A DAY,
SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND PLAYED HOST TO MORE THAN 600,000 GUESTS AND DINERS.
QHA REVIEW | 16
When COVID-19 arrived on the scene last year, it
killed international travel – putting incredible pressure
on hospitality and tourism venues around the country,
particularly those where the beds are normally booked
by overseas visitors.
For the team operating the eco-friendly Thala Beach
Nature Reserve on 145 acres on a private headland
between Cairns and Port Douglas it meant the
demographics of their visitors changed.
Thala Beach Nature Reserve Director Seton Prettejohn
said the pandemic was certainly having an impact.
“We were heavily reliant on international visitors, so
we have seen a steep decline in numbers, though we
have had unprecedented domestic support which has
been great,” he said.
Interestingly, the change from international visitors to
domestic travellers has correlated to a change in the
length of stay.
“Typically, we used to see 3-4 days from international
visitors, but with Aussies we are seeing longer stays
and it’s not uncommon to have guests check in for a
week or more now,” Seton said.
When it comes to people making bookings Seton said
their travellers were still reluctant to plan to far ahead
which made it more difficult to predict when the resort
would be at its busiest.
“We’re finding we’re not planning too far ahead and
receiving the majority of bookings last minute so it’s
difficult to predict how things are going to go in such
an uncertain time,” he said.
“We are seeing some weddings start to come back,
but we are noticing people are hesitant to book to far
out and are wary of border closures.”
With less people at the resort Seton said they had
put time into developing a number of projects which
they hoped would continue to strengthen the resort’s
environmental credentials.
“We took advantage of some downtime to
construct some new rooms,” he said. “We also have
construction of an edible garden underway. We would
like to grow some food for our restaurant on-site
and have a look at recycling our organic waste via
composting and worm farms.”
On the staffing front he said the resort had fared well –
although the reduction in international travellers looking
for work did present a challenge.
“Quality hospitality staff have been difficult to find,”
Seton said.
“We do miss international travellers for some extra
labour during our busy times, but the majority of our
staff have been working for us long term and we have
a solid team.”
For Seton, Thala Beach Nature Resort has been part
of his life since childhood.
His parents, Rob and Oonagh Prettjohn, bought the
property in the 1970s and built the accommodation on
the property in the 1990s.
Since the doors first opened in 1997 the resort has
operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and
played host to more than 600,000 guests and diners.
When Seton’s parents first bought the block of land
it was a degraded sugar cane plantation, over-run
with weeds. They had visions of re-claiming the land
and returning the original vegetation – a project that
continues to this day.