The viability of many Queensland tourism operators and regional events is at risk from crippling increases in insurance premiums over the last five years.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Natassia Wheeler told a policy leaders forum this morning that many businesses were making the call on either closing or operating uninsured.
Speaking at the Queensland Futures Institute Policy Leaders Forum, she said that the annual insurance premium for one of the state’s attractions had risen from $80,000 to $500,000 over five years, and there was a $1 million excess on the policy.
The policy of another “mum and dad operator” had risen from $12,000 to more than $75,000 over the same period and the policy covered less than before.
“Insurance is one of the biggest issues facing our industry,” Ms Wheeler.
“Right now, insurance is becoming the one piece of the business where people are deciding whether they continue to operate.”
Ms Wheeler said the tourism industry saw insurance as a “market failure”. She said insurance for adventure operators was “almost unachievable”.
Queensland has particular challenges because of unpredictable weather. It had taken four years after Cyclone Debbie for some infrastructure to come back on line and many island resorts had still not re-opened after cyclone damage.
Ms Wheeler said regional, community-grown events were also being hit by the insurance rises.
“These events are absolutely at risk of not happening,” she said. “We have already seen many events across our state…that don’t happen any more and insurance is a big part of that.”
Ms Wheeler said, despite the risks, tourism was experiencing growth. The challenge was capitalising on growth in a profitable way.
“There are great opportunities out there,” she said. “We are on a global stage (through the 2032 Brisbane Games) and everyone in the world wants to know how they can invest in Queensland for tourism, which is really exciting.
“(However) the margin for tourism operators to do business has never been tighter.”
