A once popular tourist island is still virtually deserted amid Australia’s cost of living crisis.
Images from Magnetic Island, 20 minutes off the coast of Townsville and “situated in the heart of North Queensland tourism”, revealed a distinct lack of tourists despite the April-May window being the traditional peak season for the island.
A video posted on TikTok showed a Magnetic Island Sea Kayaks associate looking for tourists on the island in vain.
As one person who commented on the video to explain the tranquility of the island noted, there is no one there because Australians are in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“We are all ruined, fighting day by day,” the commentator posted.
Authorities have also been struggling to revive tourism on the island since harsh lockdowns reduced travel by 90 percent in 2020.
Magnetic Island was classified 37 in the 2023 edition of Leading Placing’s Tourism Sentiment Index: The 100 most loved destinations around the world.
TikTok user Crackajack9 uploaded a video of himself hunting tourists on North Queensland’s Magnetic Island to no avail.
The user, who works on the island, said tourism is down 70 percent this year even though the island was once named one of the most beloved destinations in the world.
In the video, cafes, beaches and main streets are all empty and not a single person is seen.
“Sadly, tourism on Magnetic Island is down almost 70 percent in 2024,” Crackajack9 said.
“Horseshoe Bay has barely had a person here since Easter.”
Even activities like kayaking, jet skiing and boating, fishing charters, hiking and waterfalls have not been enough to attract tourists, he said.
Some commenters argued that money was too tight to justify traveling today.
“People are too poor to go on vacation when 60 percent of their salaries go to rent and mortgages,” one person wrote.
“It’s almost as if the cost of living is affecting people’s ability to go on vacation,” wrote a third.
Instead, holidays abroad were cited as the cheapest option.
‘Is it cheaper to fly back to Bangkok than to Townsville? Could be a problem,” one man wrote.
“It’s cheaper to go to Bali than to spend a holiday in Australia,” added one woman.
Others said the island itself was too boring and limited to justify a visit.
“It’s cute but boring… it’s pretty boring,” someone wrote.
“Small pizzas for $30, the whole place is a mess,” another added.
“It would be nice to have a decent supermarket and butcher shop on the island, but I don’t know if that will attract more tourists,” suggested a third.
The video ends by asking what needs to change to attract tourists back.
A 2023 report by tourism, recreation and conservation planning consultancy TRC found that tourist numbers had stagnated, rather than decreased.
Magnetic Island is just a 20-minute ferry ride from the Townsville coast, but tourist numbers have remained modest since the Covid pandemic.
Authorities have also been struggling to revive tourism on the island since harsh lockdowns reduced travel by 90 percent in 2020.
Magnetic Island attracted 299,796 tourists in 2022, which was a slight increase from the 290,500 who visited before the pandemic in 2019.
The TRC report created a “10-year master plan” to firmly re-establish Magnetic Island as a tourist hotspot.
The plan aims to “enhance the island’s competitive strengths and facilitate development… to support tourism growth.”
“The Magnetic Island Tourism Master Plan will likely generate an additional 98,259 visitors and 295,000 visitor nights over the next 10 years starting in 2022,” the report states.
TRC says this would require government funding, a new promotional campaign and the construction of an additional 236 rooms to accommodate visitors.
“Our vision (is for the island to become) a world-leading sustainable destination that inspires stewardship of land and sea that improves the quality of life for our community and strengthens the cultural identity of our island.”
So far, the 2,500 people who live on the island say tourism is not growing, even though businesses remain “cautiously optimistic” about a recovery.
In January, Premier Steven Miles visited Townsville to try to figure out how to increase North Queensland’s tourism revenue.
The result was a proposed three-stage plan to rebuild demand through incentive schemes, build a more resilient industry and increase destination promotion.
SeaLink North Queensland transports the most tourists to Magnetic Island and the pandemic caused 90 per cent fewer people to travel to the island.
General Manager Darren Spearman he told the Townsville newsletter in May 2023 that the impact on tourism had been “tremendously negative.”
“It’s been a tremendously bumpy ride,” Spearman said.