News

Unfortunately, the region has had another shark incident this week. As I write this column, details are lacking so it is absolutely imperative that our community does not speculate or make comments to friends and family beyond acknowledging the fact that something has happened and thankfully the people involved are safe and being well cared for.  Our thought...

As this absolutely amazing spring weather continues, it’s nice to enjoy our own ‘back yard’ and I have been managing to squeeze in a bit of hiking and boating with my family. We are so lucky to live in this magical place. The great weather certainly put the icing on the cake with a bumper Chinese Golden Week topping off a solid school holiday period. With go...

As we head into October the Whitsundays has certainly turned it on for the School Holiday and Golden Week period with our many visitors basking in some of most glorious weather you can imagine. A great time for our region with the main street abuzz with people, charter boats out by the hundreds and day trip boats full of smiling happy tourists, and countless...

I’d like to start this week with a few congratulations. Firstly to Tourism Whitsundays and Whitsunday Regional Council on the new brand for the region – the Whitsundays, the Heart of the Great Barrier Reef. Launched two weeks ago, it is a genuinely innovative and adaptable brand and tagline that should resonate throughout everything we do. We should all get ...

Spring is blessing the Whitsunday region with glorious weather and has certainly made a huge difference to trade and confidence in the main street.  Last week's walk the street with Mayor Willcox and TW CEO Tash Wheeler Was the polar opposite of our last visit with the mood amongst main street traders upbeat, confident and happy.  There may be a short lull, ...

Short and sweet this week as the last fortnight has been hectic with all sorts of events, announcements and interesting commentary taking place. Just a usual fortnight really. The fabulous weather has held for a few weeks now giving water based operators a well-earned rest from constant battering and with numbers fairly solid, the region is riding a bit of a...

Now that’s what Airlie Beach is all about! What an absolutely fabulous weekend. The Reef Festival certainly kicked off the events season with a bang and a huge crowd turned up for the festivities and fireworks on the Friday night and seemed to stay all weekend.  The main street was packed all day Saturday with a fantastic display of community participation i...

  As always, the Airlie Beach Running Festival on the weekend was a huge success and brought many to town for the day. It is events such as this that add character to the town and give people “another reason to visit”, even if they aren’t participating in the event itself. Our congratulations to all involved And as the Events season gathers momentum, w...

There has been a lot of activity on Whitsunday Chat prompted by a thought provoking question: “How to bring more people into Airlie Beach Main Street”   There were literally hundreds of responses and twice as many great ideas! The formation of a main street strategies and committee to help run and coordinate some regular events and attraction is something...

The weather has been back to its lovely dry, sunny conditions this week, which has been nice, and will hopefully lure southerners up here to spend some time in the warm! Whales have returned to the region – almost as if on cue, to coincide with the great weather – and this is something that is truly special about our region and something we can spruik to ...

Winter has well and truly arrived! And the southern states are shivering! Even locally, there have been some very brisk days with Ugg boots and jackets pulled out of retirement … but not for long. Now is the time to tell your friends and family and anyone you speak to during the day that winter is Paradise in the Whitsundays. Plenty of package deals and a...

I want to start this week sending out huge congratulation to the Airlie Beach Hotel for coming back bigger, better and bolder than before!  From what I’ve heard, The Pub was packed over the Easter holidays and I hope this was also the case for other businesses on the Esplanade and Main Street. Feedback was excellent. Well Done. Congratulations also to ...

The Federal Election has been called for May 18 and it could be ‘make or break’ for the small business sector. For too long the major parties have paid lip service to the needs of small business but largely ignored the genuine policy changes needed to significantly assist the sector. And it is a significant sector. Small business makes up 97 per cent of a...

      It’s been a busy week for government with the Federal Budget handed down on Tuesday (April 2) delivery not inly the usual fiscal items but expected to form the principal platform for the Coalition’s election campaign.    Small business will particularly welcome tax cuts, higher tax discount rates and the increased limit to the instant asset write off s...