Many call it “Dolphin Island”. Tangalooma is more familiar to many Chinese travelers than Brisbane.
The Moreton Island resort, well-known for its dolphin-feeding sessions among its visitors was the first to identify its significance of the Chinese market, prior to the biggest Asian economy appeared as a major overwhelming force.
To quote David James, Tangalooma Island Resort director, “we did a lot of marketing. Our theory was that two-thirds of the world’s population lives in Asia and we are the closest developed nation. We employed bilingual staff before it was seen as the thing to do. We were far ahead of the game and now it is paying off.”
Almost 20 percent of the Chinese tourists account over 250,000 annual visitors to Tangalooma, or “Haitundao’’.
“It’s been remarkable growth over the past few years,” Mr James said.
In terms of accommodation assistance in Tangalooma is concerned, around 90 percent of the occupancy rate has been pointed out, targeting new focus on day trippers to boost their growth.
Other tourism operators can take a cue from the success of the resort. They can also show how the region can react as kind of an unstoppable stream for the number of Asian tourist increasing in the coming years, testing Brisbane’s power to attract them here, keep them enchanted and entertained and make them come back
