Images show decline of Yeppoon's abandoned Capricorn Resort

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Images show decline of Yeppoon’s abandoned Capricorn Resort

July 14, 2019

Hospitality / Tourism /

A further example of the decline in Queensland's resort sector has been revealed through YouTube video of the now abandoned Capricorn International Resort near Yeppoon.

The emergence of the video follows a report last weekend on 60 Minutes on the decline and closure of many resorts in the Whitsundays/

The Resort opened in the 1980s as Iwasaki Resort before being rebranded, was once a luxurious holiday destination for families, with one of the world’s largest lagoon pools.

Since closing down three years ago after operator Mercure walked away from the property.

The drone footage shows the pool’s centrepiece crumbling in parts, while many areas of the tropical landscape are now overgrown.

According to News.com.au the Iwasaki family, which still owns the site, had once proposed a $600 million redevelopment that could potentially have included a new 300-room five-star hotel, the refurbishment of the existing 331 suites, a residential community of 8000 dwellings with a village centre, private airstrip and conservation zone.

However, those plans have yet to be realised with the Resort’s still-operational website listing vague and lengthy timelines for when any development may occur.

It advised “this development will include tourism, residential and retail land uses, and is expected to occur over the next 10 years.

“The first stage of securing development approval is the submission of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Queensland Government in late 2018.”

Images show the YouTube footage of the Capricorn International Resort today (top and below, source:YouTube) and its centrepiece pool when it was in operation (below). remains in limbo. Source:YouTube.

10th July 2019 - Queensland Government commits $4.5 million for Far North tourism

10th July 2019 - Tourism Whitsundays dispute media claims of decaying resorts

9th July 2019 - Abandoned Whitsundays resorts ‘left to rot’

3rd July 2019 - Transformed Hayman Island Resort opens after $135 million luxury refurbishment

25th February 2019 - Battle to save embalmed great white shark at abandoned Victorian wildlife park

16th August 2018 - Demolition of decaying Great Keppel Island resort completed

3rd August 2018 - Surf Lakes development looks to begin operations on Queensland’s Capricorn Coast

27th September 2017 - Visitors return to the Whitsundays after Cyclone Debbie

29th March 2017 - Queensland tourism industry rallies following Cyclone Debbie

15th July 2016 - Livingstone Shire Council foreshore redevelopment to revitalise Yeppoon

7th June 2015 - Tired island resorts hurt the appeal of Great Barrier Reef tourism

10th March 2014 - New Capricorn Resort moves a step closer

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