The Gold Coast Couran Cove resort, once owned by the city’s current mayor and former athletics champion Ron Clarke, has shut its doors after running at a loss for several years.
InterPacific Group has placed the resort in voluntary liquidation, with Ferrier Hodgson expected to release more details about the resort’s progress later today.
“Over the past 13 years considerable time, energy and money has been invested to create the premium resort Couran Cove is today,” a spokesman told the Gold Coast news bulletin.
”The resort has been operating at a considerable loss for a number of years and sadly, despite our best efforts, this is an unsustainable position for any business operation.”
”This is the most sensible course of action for the business and its shareholders, and the decision was made after much consideration and deliberation by the board.”
The resort’s closure comes during a tumultuous time for tourism, especially in Queensland. The summer’s natural disasters and the strong Australian dollar have caused several resorts ro fall into insolvency, including the Bale resort in Port Douglas and the Viridian Noosa resort. Viridian is continuing to trade.
As early as November 2009, one analyst said a substantial portion of Queensland resorts were in danger of collapsing.
Couran Cove was contacted by SmartCompany this morning for comment, but the office appeared to be unattended.
Employees have been laid off, with some eligible workers given redundancy payments and entitlements. Third-party owners will still be able to access their units with some maintenance staff kept on, according to reports.
Daniel Gschwind, chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, says the closure of the resort is “very upsetting”.
“This is the most extreme manifestation of the difficult times we find ourselves in, and illustrates how tough it is for not only island resorts but resorts in general.”
“The costs to run such a venture are extremely high, and when your demand suffers as it has over the last six months or so, then it becomes extremely challenging for a resort to stay afloat.”
The Queensland tourism industry has attempted to rejig more visits to the state by launching a major advertising campaign, but it appears such endeavours have come too late. Those in the industry say tourists are still frightened by the harsh images of devastating floodwaters broadcast during January.
“The dollar doesn’t help either, and it’s a confluence of many impacts. All of these have apparently just pushed the resort over the edge,” Gschwind says.
“This is a real blow,” he says, “and doesn’t help the confidence in the industry.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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