Ray White Whitsunday holiday rentals boom as office transitions to permanent leases

AUSTRALIA’S tourism industry may have taken a hit recently but Ray White Whitsunday has been quick to adapt by converting holiday accommodation to permanent rentals.

The office’s holiday accommodation arm - which specialises in short term rentals of spectacular seaside mansions and luxury beach villas - has switched to the ‘new normal’ by offering three to six month leases on their vacation properties.

Ray White Whitsunday principal Mark Beale said the move will ensure holiday rental landlords can weather the storm that has halted both international and domestic tourism.

“We have seen a shift with the properties we’re renting, what we’re seeing now is that we have picked up holiday lets related to tourism,” Mr Beale said.

“These are fully furnished, ocean view, bed and breakfast resort style properties and the owners are contacting us and we’re putting them in as permanent rentals.

“Last week we rented 17 properties for the month with nine of them holiday rentals.

“And from September to October we’ll start taking bookings for Christmas so it's a temporary financial win for them as they are guaranteed for six months but still able to make bookings for next year.”

Mr Beale is predicting a tourism boom when lockdown measures are eased and said the office will be offering plenty of great discounts for those looking to holiday in the Whitsundays.

“We have had about 90 per cent of our bookings cancelled so it’s a big loss but some vacationers have decided to roll over their booking to 2021,” he said.

“There’s plenty of opportunities to rent for a fraction of the price and I predict that Christmas in the Whitsundays this year will be huge for domestic travel because a lot of Australians will be busting to get out and go on holidays.

“They won’t travel internationally but they will travel to Queensland and Whitsundays. The demand up until a few weeks ago has been going up and we will see bookings come back with a vengeance.”

Whitsunday local Jodie Ferdinand and her husband own Lot 23 Cove House (pictured above) which she lets through the Ray White Whitsundays holiday accommodation. Ms Ferdinand said any landlords owning holiday rentals should consider switching their property to a permanent lease.

“It was our decision, we wanted someone in the house and we didn’t want it vacant for security reasons,” Ms Ferdinand said.

“It’s helped us out immensely, we have wonderful tenants and we’re making an income for ourselves while also finding a happy medium for the renters.

“We put the tenants in initially for three months but we will be keeping an eye on government regulations to gauge when we should change back to holiday letting again.”