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Just
120 minutes from Brisbane and 40 minutes from the Gold Coast Airport
Byron Bay, the most easterly point of Australia, has become one of
the country’s most popular tourist destinations. A sub-tropical
paradise with white sandy beaches and clear blue sea surrounded by
lush hinterland. It is estimated that 1.7 million visitors pass through
each year and that 10% of Australia’s international travelers
spend time in Byron. Byron is well known for hosting some of the largest
festivals in Australia - the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival,
Splendour in the Grass and the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival. Originally a quiet abattoir town built on logging, farming, whaling and sand mining it seems karmically correct that Byron is now a centre for, amongst other things, environmental preservation, whale watching, vegetarian cuisine and new-age healing. Byron Bay’s population and cultural identity has developed through a series of sea-changes. The first wave came in the 60s when surfers discovered Byron’s great breaks and moved out of their panel vans into the beach shacks. In 1973 the hippies arrived lingering on after the Aquarius Festival (Australia’s Woodstock) which was held inland around Nimbin. The hippies were artistic types who attracted more artists as well as New Agers and followers of Eastern Philosophies. In the 80s some of the biggest names of Australian film bought property in and around the bay and A-list celebrities continue to buy property and holiday here. When Crocodile Dundee’s John Cornell and Paul Hogan revamped the Beach Hotel in 1991 and backpacker hostels started popping up like mushrooms the tourism love-affair with Byron began. The 1990’s attracted a different type of sea-changer as city dwellers sold up and bought property in and around the bay. In recent years Byron has become a haven for filmmakers. According to a study recently compiled by local Producer Cathy Henkel the economic value of the local screen industry sector is estimated at $40 million with creative industries fast becoming a significant economic driver of the local economy with Byron’s screen industry is growing into a significant new industry for the region and a real player in the national arena. Where to stay
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