Rockhampton's regional tourism body has condemned what it calls "disgraceful" price gouging on short-term accommodation ahead of the 2027 Beef Australia expo, as organisers explore daily charter flights from neighbouring cities to help manage a serious shortfall in available beds.
Rockhampton accommodation squeeze hits Beef Australia 2027 planning
Beef Australia — the largest beef industry event in the Southern Hemisphere — draws roughly 55,000 visitors to Rockhampton over a week-long program, with many attendees returning to the event multiple times throughout the week. The next expo is scheduled for May 2027, and accommodation is already emerging as a critical planning challenge.
Some Rockhampton apartments and homes are currently being listed for rent at $24,000 for the week of the event, while properties at the nearby coastal town of Yeppoon have been advertised for as much as $13,000. At least one property has reportedly been listed for $40,000 — a price that Beef Australia CEO Simon Irwin said was a signal in itself.
"People get carried away. They see something up for $40,000 for the week and the reason you're seeing it is no-one has taken it," Mr Irwin said.
Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll was more pointed in her assessment, describing the pricing behaviour as "disgraceful" and warning it was "jeopardising the event as well as the reputation of our city and greater region."
Charter flights emerging as a 'reasonable option' for day-trippers
With the region's existing commercial accommodation stock sitting at around 2,500 rooms offering 4,600 beds, and the last major hotel built more than a decade ago, expo organisers are looking at unconventional solutions to bridge the gap.
Mr Irwin said his team was actively working with air charter operators to bring visitors in from Townsville, Toowoomba and Longreach on a day-trip basis. He described daily charter flights as a "reasonable option" given the supply constraints.
The organisation also provides hundreds of temporary campsites near the showgrounds each expo to help absorb overflow demand.
Olympic Games add urgency to the region's accommodation crisis
The accommodation challenge is not limited to the beef expo. Rockhampton has been selected to host rowing and canoe sprint events on the Fitzroy River as part of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, with an estimated 15,000 spectators expected to travel to the city for those events.
Capricorn Enterprise has calculated the region will need an additional 1,200 short-term accommodation rooms by 2032 to meet both current and projected demand — a significant gap given the lack of new hotel development in recent years.
Rockhampton Mayor Tony Williams said he hoped the dual drawcard of the beef expo and the Olympics would attract serious investment. "We need an investor to come in and build the infrastructure … there is a consistent demand there," Cr Williams said, adding that he hoped developers and hoteliers would view the 2032 Games as a "great opportunity to invest."
Early signs of investor confidence emerging
While major hotel development has yet to materialise, Cr Williams pointed to one encouraging signal: the recent sale of Rockhampton's long-neglected 66-room Plaza Hotel for $5.75 million. Though the mayor said he was not aware of the new buyer's specific plans, he welcomed the transaction as a sign of growing confidence in the city's future.
"Rather than seeing derelict buildings sit there idle and become issues, that investment is confidence," he said.
A proposed Athlete Village linked to the 2032 Games is slated for the Rockhampton Railyards precinct, though that project remains in the planning and approvals stage. For now, with 2027 approaching and beds in short supply, the pressure is squarely on the region to find solutions — and on some accommodation providers to reconsider their asking prices.
