Hospitality giant Accor appears set to introduce the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts brand to the Australian market, with reports circulating that the French juggernaut has inked a deal with Melbourne property developer, Chiodo Corporation, to operate the Fairmont Port Douglas in Queensland.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced an extra $50 million to help support tourism businesses, theme and animal parks in the state to get through COVID-19.

Gold Coast Airport has been forced to suspend operations from Friday 10 April as regular commercial passenger services to the region dry up.

Bedarra Great Barrier Reef and Lizard Island Resort has become other casualties of the Australian Government’s ban on domestic holidays fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Makepeace Island, the Noosa, Queensland-based resort co-owned by Sir Richard Branson, Brett Godfrey and Radek Sali, has announced the appointment of Bobbie Murphy as General Manager.

Hayman Island by InterContinental, located at the northernmost point in the Whitsunday Islands, welcomed its first guests as they stepped off their luxury catamaran and onto the white sands of Australia’s most iconic private island resort on Monday 1 July 2019.

There are few destinations on Earth that can call the Great Barrier Reef (one of the seven wonders of the natural world) home. In recognition of its privileged location, on World Ocean Day earlier this month, InterContinental Hayman Island Resort pledged to protect its spectacular surroundings.

Lizard Island has announced details and dates for its Reef Expedition experiences for 2019 offering guests access to normally unseen snorkelling areas around the island and exclusive areas of the Great Barrier Reef.