Rates and revenue
These numbers come from AirROI, which tracks Airbnb listings, for the 12 months from October 2025 to September 2026, in Australian dollars as AirROI prints them. AirROI converts from US dollars at about A$1.44, so the figures are not converted again here. The stats box above is AirROI's Airlie Beach market, which the page does not draw a boundary around; its neighbourhood list runs from Proserpine and Shute Harbour out to Hayman Island and Lindeman Island, so treat it as the Airlie Beach end of the region rather than a precise town count. For Airlie Beach, AirROI shows 407 active listings, an average daily rate of A$422, occupancy of 50.6%, revenue per available night of A$208 and average annual revenue of A$63,541 per listing. The monthly figure in the stats box, A$5,295, is that annual revenue divided by twelve, an average over a year with a quiet February and a strong July, not what any single month pays.
Size drives the money. AirROI's median annual revenue for Airlie Beach is A$38,500 for a studio, A$38,700 for a one-bedroom, A$52,500 for a two-bedroom, A$69,600 for a three-bedroom, A$140,000 for a four-bedroom and A$206,000 for five bedrooms or more, with average nightly rates of A$241, A$257, A$348, A$512, A$801 and A$1,173 across those sizes. Occupancy barely moves with size, between 48% and 54%, so the bigger homes earn more by charging more per night, not by filling more nights. The nearby markets are cheaper: Cannonvale shows 85 listings, A$302 a night, 47.9% occupancy and A$40,931 average annual revenue, and Bowen shows 25 listings, A$230 a night, 38.5% and A$23,319. These are market averages and a single home will land somewhere inside or outside them.
Hamilton Island sits in a higher band. AirROI's Whitsunday Regional page, which lists Hamilton Island hosts, shows 397 active listings, an average daily rate of A$799, occupancy of 48.2%, average annual revenue of A$106,422 (down 5.6% on the year) and a booking lead time of 112 days, against 73 days for Airlie Beach and 53 for Cannonvale. Its top-earning listing is a five-bedroom Hamilton Island home at A$724,105 for the year, which tells you how wide the range is, not what a typical owner should expect. Average stays run 4.2 nights in Airlie Beach and 4.7 in the wider region. The longer lead time in the wider region is the practical point for pricing: the average booking is made about 112 days ahead, so a rate calendar set late leaves money on the table.
The year in The Whitsundays
Summer here is December to February, and the Whitsundays does not follow the southern pattern of a summer peak and a winter lull. AirROI's two-year average revenue per listing in Airlie Beach is highest in July at A$8,340, then August at A$7,670, December at A$7,290, September at A$7,150 and October at A$7,120, and lowest in February at A$4,200, with March at A$5,000 and May at A$5,180. June, at A$5,880, is a soft month that lifts as soon as the Queensland July holidays begin. AirROI groups July to December as the high season, at A$7,360 a month, 59% occupancy and A$426 a night, and February, March, May and June as the low season, at A$5,070, 45% and A$402. The pattern is useful because it contradicts the common idea that the whole dry season is a single block.
The weather calendar adds a second layer. The Mackay and Whitsunday Life newspaper puts the stinger season at November through May, with the Bowen Hospital's senior medical officer advising stinger suits and wetsuits to reduce the risk. Tourism Whitsundays says operators supply suits as standard in the warmer months, and the Airlie Beach Lagoon is open as a stinger-free swim. Tropical Cyclone Debbie reached the coast in March 2017, so the wet end of the year carries a real weather risk that guests ask about and insurers price. The Queensland school holidays carry the rest of the calendar, and the dates for 2026 and 2027 are in the windows below.
