MIDWAY through last Thursday's impassioned draft planning scheme community consultation meeting at the Whitsunday PCYC, former councillor and current Chamber of Commerce president Kevin Collins spoke out.

According to the council's figures, within the next five years, there will be an additional 100,000 people coming through the Whitsunday Coast Airport, he explained.

"At three nights per stay, with two people to a room, that's 150,000 room nights. That fills a 400-room hotel, seven nights a week, 365 days a year," he explained.

"And yes, a lot of people want hotel rooms."

Aside from Coral Sea Resort and the Airlie Beach Hotel, Mr Collins said the accommodation market in Airlie Beach largely centred on stratified apartments that were not fully serviced. Mr Collins said it was a different market to what was offered on the islands.

"So if we're going to have a 400-room hotel in Airlie Beach, the dynamics of the Australian cost model with our wages and with our costs means you can't have it spread out. They are not viable," he said.

"If we want a 400-room hotel, it's got to be high. Otherwise no one is going to build one. And if we have a high one, where's the best place for it?"

If every hotel room in a proper hotel creates half a job, a 400-room hotel room would create 200 jobs, Mr Collins reasoned.

"Every 20 room nights in a hotel creates another job in the service industry. So a 400-room hotel, if these 100,000 customers come, is 950 jobs."

Speaking yesterday, Mr Collins said it was good the community had to talk about managing growth.

"We are so lucky to be talking about managing growth when so many other communities are trying to manage failure," he said.

"So if we want a tourism industry that's growing, somewhere, we need a 400-room hotel, or we need two 200-room hotels, and if want those hotels, unfortunately they have to be tall."

Mr Collins said the Airlie Beach Chamber of Commerce was currently working on a submission and welcomed input from local businesses.

"We have to take a pro-business approach because that's the job of the chamber," he said.

"We're supportive of four storeys on the foreshore, but think there should be a maximum density set around 30-40%. There should only be four storeys on the Airlie Beach Hotel block."

Mr Collins said the chamber was in favour of eight storeys in the valley, but with a maximum density and substantial setback from the road.