Queensland is set to fall short on accommodation targets ahead of the 2032 Olympics, with bombshell new research revealing the state’s hotel supply has completely stalled.
Despite a booming visitor economy and soaring room rates, Property Council of Australia has found current projections show the state is set to deliver a dismal 24 per cent of the 14,700 rooms required by the Games.
Just one solitary new hotel, the Mondrian in Burleigh Heads, has opened across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast over the past year.
Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire said the findings reinforce that the accommodation challenge is structural, not cyclical.
“The demand is here, the global spotlight is coming, but the rooms are not,” Ms Caire said.
“Queensland’s hotel markets are doing exactly what we would hope – attracting visitors, lifting occupancy and driving strong returns, yet the supply response has stalled completely.”
“This year’s analysis confirms what last year’s report foreshadowed. This is not a short‑term dip or a construction hangover, it is a feasibility problem that is getting worse, and without intervention we will not maximise the opportunity ahead”.
CBRE’s Head of Hotels Research Ally Gibson said the data shows hotel markets across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast are exceptionally tight, with demand well above pre‑pandemic levels.
“Across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, just one new hotel opened in the past 12 months – the Mondrian in Burleigh Heads. One exceptional property in three major markets. That tells you everything about the supply problem we face, “ Ms Gibson said.
“Hotels are fundamentally different to other asset classes. They are highly capital‑intensive, rarely pre‑sold or pre‑leased, and must absorb escalating construction, financing and operating costs before reaching stabilised performance.”
To avoid an international embarrassment, the Property Council is urging state and local governments to step in with emergency planning, tax, and investment reforms to restore investor confidence.
They say without immediate intervention to fix the broken economics of building, Queensland risks squandering its once-in-a-generation Olympic legacy before the flame is even lit.
“In an ever-uncertain environment, we need to ensure the policy settings give investors the confidence to bring forward hotel projects at the scale and pace required,” Ms Caire said.
She said previous periods of targeted reform had shown what was possible.
“We’ve seen before that when planning, tax and investment settings align, Queensland can deliver. The challenge now is replicating that success in a much tougher feasibility environment.”
