Tourist park to make a splash

A MASSIVE tourist park upgrade that could pre-empt an award-winning water park quintupling in size is hanging on one key decision.

BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut Resort at Woree is set to undergo a multimillion-dollar transformation that will almost double its number of cabins.

The owners have applied to Cairns Regional Council for permission to convert 109 caravan and tent sites into 102 cabins, bringing the park’s ultimate configuration up to 238 cabins and 116 sites for campers and RV enthusiasts.

The project has been recommended by officers for approval at Wednesday’s council meeting – although several stringent conditions have been imposed.

Owner Ingenia Holidays Cairns’ initial development application was even more ambitious, and included the addition of a day spa, expansion of the existing cafe and shop near the park entrance, and a major extension of the water park in the venue’s southeast corner.

That expansion was expected to eventually increase the 15-year-old water park to five times its current size – including the option of a third pool being built.

The day spa was added to the development list after an upswing in women staying at the resort looking for pamper treatment. “In response to the information request … as well as a lack of demand in the market, the applicant sought to remove the ancillary components (water park, cafe, shop and day spa) and will look to pursue at a later date,” a council report states.

“Officers are supportive of the inclusion of these facilities in the tourist park.”

Like all tourism operations, the park has suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic but strong bookings have been reported.

The resort received the gold medal for caravan and holiday parks in last year’s Queensland Tourism Awards.