Vaughan Bullivant cuts Daydream Island price tag to $30 million

by MarineBusiness-World on 13 Oct 2014 Owning a Great Barrier Reef Island just doesn’t hold the appeal it once did, with agents for 296-room Daydream Island in the Whitsundays slashing the asking price in half .

Vaughan Bullivant who sold the Nature’s Own vitamin company for $137 million in 1997 paid about $25 million for the island in 2000 and has spent nearly $50 million on it, according to the Australian Financial Review.



Bullivant had previously hoped to get around $65 million for the Daydream Island resort, which he put on the market in 2012, but with his health deteriorating and the island failing to sell in two years, agents have convinced Mr Bullivant to lower the price to about $30 million.

In recent years Lindeman Island sold for $12 million, Orpheus Island for $6.25 million and the cyclone-damaged Bedarra Island went for under $5 million. Dunk Island was sold for $7.5 million after Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

CBRE Hotels’ agent Wayne Bunz told the media that he said he was confident that with renewed growth in the tourism sector, a 'passionate' buyer would be found for the 4.5 star Daydream.

'You need passionate people to buy these island resorts,' said Bunz.

'There’s romance, there’s prestige and ego with owning your own island, and the thing is you could buy Daydream for less than what some people’s private residence is worth in Sydney or Toorak (Melbourne).'

He said Asian investors would be targeted by CBRE with video commercials recorded in Mandarin.'The Chinese are absolutely in love with the Great Barrier Reef, so we’re hopeful we’ll get some renewed interest,' Bunz said.

He said although Daydream remained profitable with an annual turnover of $27 million, a new owner might want to look at halving the room numbers and upscaling to a five-star resort.

'You could bring the 296 keys down to 150, and make two rooms into one to provide a more luxurious offering,' he said.

'The thing is hotels and islands need a facelift every five to seven years if they want to protect marketshare.'

Potential buyers have until November 6 to register their interest in the hope a sale will be made by Christmas.