“It gives more people the chance to see the Great Barrier Reef,” says Kate Jones, Queensland’s Minister for Tourism Industry Development. The launch of Cruise Whitsundays’ $8 million pontoon-a two-story, 6,000-square-foot floating platform aptly named Reefworld-this past December has lured an additional 300 visitors out to the reef for snorkeling and diving day trips of these, 28 stay the night in swag tents on the pontoon's upper deck (a glamping-beneath-the-stars experience called Reefsleep), while four head down to spend the night in an underwater Reefsuite. The Queensland Government, in an effort to revitalize the region post-Debbie, pumped $25 million into new attractions, including luxury hotels like the newly reopened InterContinental Hayman Island Resort, a six-sculpture underwater exhibit, and a permanent underwater museum-the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere-set to open in March. In the past year alone, the region has seen an unprecedented number of new tourism developments. In a region still very much in recovery, are tourist attractions like Reefsuites adding further harm? The Great Barrier Reef suffered extensive damage, with some reefs seeing a 95 percent loss of coral-a further blow to an ecosystem already threatened by the effects of climate change (like coral bleaching), and natural predators like coral-killing starfish. And it was only two years ago that Cyclone Debbie tore through the Whitsundays, leaving entire islands stripped bare and destroying homes, hotels, and infrastructure. As I write this, deadly fires rage across the country-my own hometown of Sydney is engulfed in smoke and ash. This is the reef.Īs a native Australian, I’m all too aware of how fragile the environment is, and how crucial it is to respect it.

Underwater hotel california