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International competition for Chinese visitors is intense and destinations such as the US, Switzerland, South Korea and Thailand have increased their share of Chinese tourists, while Australia’s share is stagnating.

“Australia is only just holding its share of total Chinese outbound travel at around 1 per cent,” according to global management consulting firm LEK.

“However, its share of Chinese long-haul travel has actually fallen slightly, from 7 per cent in 2009 to 6 per cent in 2014,” LEK said. “Still, we can reasonably expect Australia to hit two million Chinese visitors per year by 2025.”

At an HSBC Australia briefing yesterday, tourism analysts said one of the reasons for the decline in Chinese growth was lack of tourism infrastructure investment. Accor, IHG and Hilton have programs in place dedicated to making their hotels China-ready, delivering everything from Mandarin speakers working on the front desk to Chinese news­papers and specialist Chinese food. But HSBC Australia’s head of commercial banking Steve ­Hughes said Australia still ranked as only the 10th most popular outbound travel destination for Chinese tourists after countries including France, Italy, Indonesia, Germany and the US.

Mr Hughes said Chinese visitors should be encouraged to stay longer given they spend about $250 a night compared to the ­average visitor spending $100.

Mr Hughes called for the tourism sector to update its accommodation infrastructure, such as up-market resorts and hotels.

But Noel Scott, professor and deputy director of the Griffith ­Institute for Tourism, said 98 per cent of Australia’s tourism businesses were small businesses and they did not have the ability to innovate and develop new tourism products for the Chinese.

Professor Scott said three, four and five-star hotel growth was stagnant. “The exponential growth is in unstarred ­hotels which are cheaper and can attract a wider market.

“There is also the perennial issue for tourism of getting people away from the hubs of Cairns and the Gold Coast to distribute around the regions.

“This is also about infrastructure, if we can develop new and innovative things which might meet the (Chinese) market that is a good thing.”

Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said his organisation was unashamedly targeting high-yield Chinese tourists. “We have made a very conscious decision to go after the free and independent Chinese traveller, rather than the group tour market. They stay longer, disperse more widely and spend more, which is great for our industry,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“Those Australian tourism ­operators that are adapting their businesses to tap into this market — hotels like Accord, IHG and Hilton — are undoubtedly reaping the benefits.”

Source: The Australian Business Review

Chinese development giant R&F Properties has committed to build 10,000 apartments in Springfield in southeast Queensland in an ambitious plan valued at more than $6 billion.

The Guangzhou-based, Hong Kong-listed group signed a development agreement with Springfield Land Corporation and other Chinese investors to create the Central Gardens project, including 20 mid-rise and high-rise unit towers, and 9,000 sq.m of shops and office space, over 15 years.

An official announcement is expected today at an event attended by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the company’s Chinese chairmen, James Cui and Guo Baotian.

The development site is adjacent to the train station and the Mirvac Orion shopping centre at the Brisbane satellite precinct, which is proposed to play a central role as a population hub under southeast Queensland’s regional plan.

R&F Properties — ranked in the top 10 developers in China with revenues of $US3.36bn ($4.3bn) in the first six months of 2016 — made a splash in the Australian market in 2014, aggressively buying four developments sites in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Australian-registered company Etone Australia Developments, the Chinese-backed investor in the project, lists five directors from mainland China and one director from Hong Kong.

The deal was put together through investment bank UBS, engaged last February to conduct a global search for investors.

Managing director and head of real estate Australia, Tim Church, said they had substantial interest looking for large-scale, long-term partnership opportunities. “The vision for this significant project is very exciting and is the logical step in the evolution of the city’s residential real estate offering,” Mr Church said.

“A key attraction which drove the significant interest in the Central Gardens development is the fact that Greater Springfield is a true master planned city which will drive significant demand and amenity to the Central Gardens development.”

Springfield Land Corporation chairman Maha Sinnathamby said they were “delighted” to partner with R&F and Etone. “Central Gardens accelerates the growth of Greater Springfield, an alternative to the Brisbane CBD, by providing new housing and work choices for our diverse and growing community,” he said.

“Greater Springfield is already one of Australia’s fastest urban growth regions and this significant project will bring many opportunities for our community and commerce base to grow and prosper here.”

R&F entered the Australian market three years ago, splashing out $46 million for a South Brisbane development site from David Devine’s Metro Property Development, more than double the $22m Metro paid for it the previous year, without approvals in place. It has reported $US79m in pre-sales for the 1 Cordelia Street development.

It also bought a site from Brisbane developers PointCorp for a 988-apartment project on the Brisbane River at West End, paying $82.5m compared with PointCorp’s purchase three years earlier of $26m.

In Australia, the company also holds other sites in Kangaroo Point in Brisbane and Footscray in Melbourne. Previously, Springfield had sought international partners through Trade and Investment Queensland to develop the apartment project, attracting interest from Asian giants Country Garden, Daikyo, Royal Duke, Samsung and MTR Corporation.

Springfield is a masterplanned area 30km southwest of Brisbane that has been developed since the 1990s. Stretching 2860ha, it has attracted residential and commercial developers from Mirvac, Aveo, and Lend Lease, Folkestone and Australand.

Source: The Australian

Brisbane is constructing a new AUD3 billion world-class integrated resort development which includes casino, 5 hotels, shopping malls & restaurants. Expected to open in 2022, Queen’s Wharf Brisbane will transform the CBD and river’s edge with an iconic design and will at the same time generate an annual increase of AUD1.69 billions of tourism revenue. Golden Emperor hosted ‘Investing in Brisbane’ seminar with partnership with Metro Property Development, a largest developer in Brisbane. Broadway On Ann, a residential development in Brisbane, was launched at our event as well. The seminar attracting over 300 customers attended over the weekend.

Above: Over 300 investors attended the weekend seminar.

Above: Cubie Chan, Project Director of Golden Emperor, provided a presentation on Brisbane property market.

Above: Our clients in Hong Kong can enjoy the special offer during this event.

The rate of economic growth in Brisbane is currently double that of Sydney due to an increase in employment, interstate migration and extensive infrastructure projects. However, property prices in Brisbane are currently 50% lower than Sydney. This price anomaly will not be last for long, as Brisbane property prices will soon catch up. Brisbane will be the investment focus of Australia in the next few years. Golden Emperor hosted ‘Investing in Brisbane’ seminar with partnership with Property Solutions, a multi-award winning developer with a proven track record of 25 years in Queensland and presented ILLUMINA, which locates in the prime area of Toowong. The seminar attracting over 300 customers attended over the weekend.

Above: Over 300 investors attended the weekend seminar.

Above: Cubie Chan, Project Director of Golden Emperor, provided a presentation on Brisbane property market.

Above: Our clients in Hong Kong can enjoy the special offer during this event.

Australia’s Treasurer Scott Morrison approved on Friday the sale of Australia’s largest pastoral land holding ,S. Kidman & Co, to a partnership involving local mining magnate Gina Rinehart and Chinese consortium Shanghai CRED.Following months of speculation as to whether or not Morrison would approve a bid involving a foreign firm, the Treasurer released a statement on Friday formally approving the sale of the cattle empire to Australian Outback Beef (AOB), a venture 67 percent owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and 33 percent by China’s Shanghai CRED.

Morrison had previously knocked back Chinese-majority bids for the empire due to worries over “national security” and “national interest”, but under the deal struck with AOB, Morrison said there would be no cause for concern.Under the agreement, S. Kidman & Co’s contentious Anna Creek holding, which backs onto the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Woomera weapons testing range, would not be included as part of the sale to AOB.

“Under the proposal the largest station in the Kidman group, Anna Creek and its outstation The Peake, will be acquired by the Williams Family, a local farming family with properties that adjoin Anna Creek,” Morrison said.

“The remainder of the S. Kidman & Co. Limited business will be acquired by Australian Outback Beef Pty Ltd (Outback Beef).

“Under the proposal Australian-owned Hancock will control the Board, and will control day-to-day operation of the business. Kidman will remain majority Australian owned under this proposal, and remain an Australian incorporated company headquartered in South Australia.””Currently Kidman is 33.9 percent foreign owned,” Morrison said. “With the sale of Anna Creek and The Peake, the proposal I am approving today represents a significant increase in overall Australian ownership from 66.1 percent to 74.7 percent.”

Earlier this year, Morrison knocked back a Chinese-majority $280 million bid for the landholding, while the AOB bid is expected to be in the ball-park of $295 million.It is unclear as to whether or not AOB will pay less for the acquisition seeing as though the Anna Creek station is off the table.The Kidman empire covers 101,000 square km of pastoral land, representing 2.6 percent of Australia’s total agricultural land.

Source:China Daily