Community spotlight - The Star Entertainment Group

As part of its involvement in Routes Asia 2018, Routesonline spoke to The Star Entertainment Group.

What does The Star Entertainment Group do?

• As a top 100 ASX-listed company, The Star Entertainment Group’s vision is to become Australia’s leading integrated resort company.
• An unforgettable celebration. A breathtaking performance. A night to remember. Across three of Australia’s most vibrant cities, The Star Entertainment Group adds a sparkling dimension of luxury and entertainment that guests will want to rediscover again and again.
• It is the current owner and operator of three properties in Australia – Treasury Brisbane, The Star Gold Coast, and The Star Sydney.
• In addition, The Star Entertainment Group manages the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on behalf of the Queensland Government.

How are you helping to support and drive tourism in South-East Queensland?

• In partnership with our Hong Kong-based consortium partners, The Star Entertainment Group is proudly helping support and drive south-east Queensland’s tourism appeal through nearly $4bn worth of investments in the region, while injecting significant benefits into the economy.
• These include the development of the $3bn world-class Queen’s Wharf Brisbane integrated resort, expected to open in the CBD in 2022; the acquisition of Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast; and up to $850m at The Star Gold Coast including the refurbishment of the existing property, the construction of a new luxury suite hotel to open before the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, and a proposed new apartment and hotel tower expected to open in 2021.
• Further master-planning for Broadbeach Island is underway.

Why are you supporting the development of air services to the region?

• We have strong confidence in the growth in inbound tourism and central to our approach is the need to work with industry and government to help grow the pie.
• We currently collaborate with the tourism industry such as Brisbane Airport and tourism operators to encourage more high-quality tourism attractions in SEQ – the more we have, the more likely visitors will stay longer here.
• In particular, we have great confidence in the growth of visitation from Asia and China where the more affluent middle-class continues to expand almost exponentially.
• *Asia is Queensland’s largest international source market in terms of visitors and visitor expenditure, attracting 1.2 million visitors in FY2017 who spent about $2.6bn.
• *Chinese visitors account for more than 40 percent of our Asian visitors, spending about $1bn of that.
• All this research shows that this will continue to be a growth market and we have the opportunity to capture a large share of this through our developments in South East Queensland.
• Once built, our Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development alone is expected to attract an additional 1.39 million visitors to Queensland each year – this opens the door for these visitors to extend their trip in SEQ to places like the Gold Coast where we also have properties.
• This significant increase in the number of passengers coming here will potentially create a flow-on effect of increasing the number of direct routes to Brisbane.

What is your main message at Routes Asia?

• Queen’s Wharf Brisbane will transform our city with a diverse mix of new riverfront spaces; high quality dining options to suit every taste and budget; exciting nightlife and entertainment; local and international retail brands; and world-class hotels.
• The development will also help better connect our city with a new pedestrian bridge to South Bank.
• Further, Brisbane’s future is incredibly exciting and attractive thanks to a number of projects occurring around the city including Brisbane Airport’s new parallel runway, a new cruise ship terminal being built, and also the Brisbane Live proposal.
• Together, our respective tourism infrastructure projects complement each other and are helping build Brisbane’s global reputation as Australia’s most northern gateway and a must-visit destination for tourism, leisure, and entertainment experiences.