Short success
From popular tourist attraction to problem property: the first floating hotel in the world is rotting at the harbor
The floating hotel is vegetating in North Korea
© Hans Lucas / Imago Images
The Barrier Reef Floating Resort was once a tourist attraction in Australia. But that changed quickly. The world’s first floating hotel in the middle of the sea changed hands several times and covered a total of around 14,000 kilometers. Now the ship hotel is rotting away at the port.
Tennis courts, swimming pools, nightclubs, bars and restaurants – and even a helipad: the seven-story Barrier Reef Floating Resort with 200 rooms attracted many guests in 1988 as the world’s first floating hotel. It was 70 kilometers from the coast of Townsville, Australia.
The idea of the Italian immigrant Doug Tarca to offer guests a special vacation option in the middle of the sea on the Great Barrier Reef seemed to work. Tarca had the ship hotel built in Singapore for an estimated 30 to 40 million US dollars and finally brought into the sea off Townsville. It had already completed a 5000 kilometer sea voyage before it opened.
The Barrier Reef Floating Resort quickly experienced its first setback: a cyclone is said to have caused problems as soon as it opened. In addition, there were often strong waves, so that some water taxis could not drive or hotel guests arrived at the ship hotel seasick.
Hotel resold in several countries
Just about a year after it opened, the Barrier Reef Floating Resort was sold to a Vietnamese company. It again took up a nearly 5,000-kilometer sea voyage to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and opened under a new name. As “Saigon Floating Hotel” aka “The Floater”, the ship became a popular tourist destination again.
For almost a decade there was another setback: “Saigon Floating Hotel” had to be sold to a South Korean company due to financial difficulties. The ship hotel was relocated to the North Korean resort in the Mount Kumgang area and renamed “Haegumgang”. The area has long been considered an important symbol of cooperation between North and South Korea. However, when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by North Korean security forces in 2008, this marked the end of the popular holiday resort. In 2009 the hotel was closed.
Kim Jong-un has wanted to tear down “Haegumgang” for a long time
The North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un described the former tourist attraction as “makeshift tents in a disaster area”. Actually, he had wanted to tear down “Haegumgang” for a long time. While people in Australia still share a special reference to the hotel and share memorabilia and stories about their visit, the floating hotel has become a problem object. After a total of 14,000 kilometers of sea voyage, Mount Kumgang may be his last stop. It’s rotting at the port. Robert de Jong of the Maritime Museum in Townsville said of the proposed demolition: “That was probably the way things were. It wasn’t built to last.”
Sources: Travelbook, ORF, ABC, Traveler