Island’s king-size golf boom:

But with more visitors, more workers, there’s pressure to find rooms for all

Housing, both short term and long term, is a significant growth block ... visitor accommodation is similarly short on stock.

KING ISLAND COUNCIL

GOLF is to King Island what Mona is to Hobart — a catalyst for stellar tourism growth but also growing pains as the island tries to cope with its new-found popularity.

King Island, once most renowned for its beef, cheese and surfing, now boasts two world-class golf courses — and interstate and international tourists are arriving in droves for the experience.

The Cape Wickham Links, which sold for $16 million last year, is looking to expand its offering, Ocean Dunes, ranked fourth in Australia, is going gangbusters and the historic King Island Golf and Bowling Club is holding its own as the island’s reputation as a golfing destination continues to grow.

Cape Wickham Links general manager Michael Brasier said 9000 rounds were played on the course last year compared with 5180 in 2016.

“The course has been rated 24th in the world [ Golf Digest] and King Island is a fabulous place. We have 16 accommodation units on site but are looking to add on with different offerings, such as villas, to meet demand,” Mr Brasier said.

While King Island is enjoying its status as a must-play golfing destination, it is also grappling with how to provide accommodation for not only visitors, but the 62 new workers needed to build and staff approved tourism developments.

Investors have picked up on the opportunities on the island.

Sixteen development applications, worth $4.6 million, were approved in 2017 plus there are 318 visitor bedrooms approved, but not yet built.

Other high-class tourist offerings such as Porky Bay Retreat and King Island Breaks have already opened.

It is a starkly different situation on King Island than it was eight years ago.

Then, there were so many empty houses and such a shortage of jobs that former mayor Charles Arnold suggested to the federal government that the island would be an ideal offshore detention centre.

Things got even bleaker when the island’s main employer, JBS Abattoir, closed its doors in 2012 and 100 workers were left without a job.

Today, less than 2 per cent of the permanent population of 1617 is unemployed.

“Housing, both short term and long term, is a significant growth block,” the King Island Council said in a recent document.

“With exceptionally high demand, and extremely low stock, the market is volatile and both sale and rental prices have risen sharply. Demand is, and will continue to, outstrip supply until new stock becomes available.

“Visitor accommodation is similarly short on stock and unable to meet current and projected demand. There is anecdotal evidence of visitor itineraries being planned around using accommodation and hospitality services in Melbourne, with just a day trip to King Island for a round of golf.

“Growth in this space is critical to long-term sustainability of the tourism product, and for expansion of the tourism ‘spend’ within the economy.”

In February, the King Island Council launched a housing and growth audit to try to quantify its accommodation needs.

The council wants money to build units in the centre of Currie to lease to developers to house management staff.

“But these are not going to be enough to satisfy the number of construction workers coming through the island over the next few years and certainly won’t house the potential 62 families predicted,” the council told residents in a recent mailout.

The council is now encouraging locals to renovate or repurpose their properties and rent out rooms or build annexes to provide short-term accommodation.

The council said 40 per cent of households on King Island consisted of one person, while only 22 per cent of houses were one or two bedroom.

“Increased provision of smaller houses may free up some of the larger houses for new and existing families,” the council said.

An incentive scheme has also been devised where projects under $500,000 are eligible for a refund of application fees if the application is completed before the end of this financial year and building completed within two years

Mayor Duncan McFie said King Island was experiencing massive growth with a number of tourism projects on the books.

“However, the question of worker accommodation keeps coming up, both for tradies to build the new tourism projects and for staff once they are up and running,” he said.

“Add the potential of new abattoirs and a restart of the Grassy mine into the mix and there is clearly a housing shortage.”

The council is also working to broaden its tourism base.

“As visitor numbers increase, so too do the opportunities for diversification of the tourism product, to offer value-adding experiences for the golfers, as well as attractions for their non-golfing partners,” the council said.

“Examples of these are emerging with the commencement of products such as the Wild Harvest restaurant at Grassy, along with their planned residential cooking school; guided four-wheel drive tours on the island; local provedore services and a planned helicopter charter service.

“There are opportunities emerging now for entrepreneurs to consider ideas such as fishing charters; diving and coastal walks.”