Island hopping on Easter break

MAGNETIC Island tourism is booming with most accommodation already snapped up for the Easter long weekend.

Magnetic Island Tourism chair Norman Jenkin said the island had only a few properties available for visitors during the Easter break.

“Most people book their Easter long weekend to the island in advance,” he said.

“In fact people tend to book their visit when they leave the previous year.”

Mr Jenkin said, however, visitors could still enjoy the island during the long weekend as day trippers.

“There’s plenty of places to see and activities to take part in as a day tripper,” he said.

“There is still accommodation available after Easter, during the remainder of the school holidays.”

Best of Magnetic agency principal Pam Young, who has 170 properties, said all accommodation on her books were booked out “ages ago” for the Easter weekend.

“If you want to stay overnight at the island during the Easter long weekend, it really needs to be booked well in advance,” she said. “The atmosphere at the island is truly magical at Easter. That’s why people keep rebooking.”

Wotif travel specialist Amanda Behre said Magnetic Island was a regular favourite with Wotif travellers during Easter and the school holiday period. She said Townsville was also gaining popularity as an Easter holiday destination.

“At Wotif, we’re seeing nearly a 10 per cent year- onyear increase for Townsville accommodation over the Easter holiday period, which is great for the region,” she said. “Townsville is also one of our top 10 destinations these school holidays with lots of family friendly activities.”

Townsville Enterprise tourism and events director Bridget Woods said Easter was traditionally one of the peak periods of holiday visitation for Magnetic Island.

“It is great to see this trend continuing for this year,” Ms Woods said.

“The great thing about this result is that it is off the back of the latest international visitor survey results which shows a strong growth in the international market as well as in the youth adventure sector, which is essentially driven by experiences delivered on Magnetic Island.”

SeaLink Queensland gen- eral manager Chris Briggs said Magnetic Island’s reputation as a great getaway destination continued to grow.

“Forward bookings are suggesting Easter will be a great result for Magnetic Island and the region,” he said. “As well as continued interest from the international and Victorian visitor markets, the school holidays for Queensland and NSW will commence.”