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Despite decades of success as one of Queensland's most popular resorts, South Molle Island - damaged by Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2016 - remains closed with no signs of reopening.

With its lease taken over by Shanghai-based China Capital Investment Group (CCIG) in 2016, prior to Cyclone Debbie, there are appear to be nonplans for the future of the once popular Whitsunday Islands resort.

One of just 20 resorts operating on a Queensland Government lease, many of which are running into trouble, the ABC has reported that its current state appears in breach of the conditions of the lease that rules its operations on Crown land.

While CCIG has begun work on an $86 million renovation of Daydream Island, which it also owns, a spokeswoman told ABC News that South Molle would require "major work" and a redevelopment was still "a few years away".

First developed in the 1950s, when promotional literature promised visitors "carefree days and carnival nights" the resort boomed in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, ownership of the resort has been everchanging.

In the 1980s, it was owned by the now-defunct airline Ansett.

Queensland businessman Craig Ross purchased South Molle resort out of receivership in the early 2000s and later ran it as a backpacker hostel before CCIG took over.

The Chinese-owned business describes itself as an investment company with interests in mining, real estate and tourism.

While it may have had big aspirations for the tropical island, nature intervened when category four Cyclone Debbie wreaked havoc along the Whitsunday coast just a few months after CCIG's purchase.

In the aftermath of the devastating storm, cabins are roofless and dishevled, the golf course and tennis courts are overgrown and the resort's jetty is twisted and collapsing, unsafe to use.

Because the resort is on Queensland Government-owned land, there are strict conditions over its upkeep.

Under the terms of the agreement, the lessee must reasonably "at all times provide and maintain on the lease land tourist accommodation of a standard acceptable" to the Queensland Government, and "at all times provide, maintain and staff a satisfactory transportation service between the mainland and the leased land".

The Queensland Government said five of the 20 resorts operating on tourism leases are in arrears, but it would not reveal which are falling behind.

A spokesman for the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy said it was working with island lessees impacted by Cyclone Debbie to enable them to repair and reopen resorts.

The spokesperson told the ABC “wWhere lessees owe substantial rental arrears, we arrange payment plans to manage debt.

"There are other mechanisms in place to administer rental arrears where payment plans are unsuccessful - they include taking possession and sale or utilising the forfeiture provisions of the Land Act."

Off the far north coast, the resort on Dunk Island, which was destroyed by Cyclone Yasi in 2011, remains in ruins.

While the resort is on privately owned land, the neighbouring spit and campgrounds are part of the island's national park, with a sub-lease managed by Cairns Regional Council.

It was awarded to an adventure tourism company in March.

Port Hinchinbrook, off the coast of Cardwell, has serious problems of its own.

Unlike the tourism ventures of the islands, property owners at the mainland marina have suffered a series of issues since the global financial crisis.

It took a direct hit from Cyclone Yasi, two successive companies went into administration, the marina filled with mud, the sewage treatment plant failed and property prices fell.

It too operates partly on a Queensland Government lease, and has faced years of disputes over who is responsible for each issue.

The once luxurious Lindeman Island has been closed for the past six years, although work on a $580 million redevelopment is expected to start soon after it received the green light from the Queensland Government last month.

It was taken over in 2012 by White Horse Australia, a subsidiary of another China-based company.

Images: Damage at South Molle Island (top, courtesy of Lis Furnell/Facebook), the resort prior to Tropical Cyclone Debbie (middle) and Port Hinchinbrook (below).

20th April 2018 - MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR REFURBISHMENT ANNOUNCED FOR FITZROY ISLAND RESORT

13th April 2018 - DAYDREAM ISLAND RESORT REVEALS NEW $14 MILLION POOL PLANS

26th July 2017 - LINDEMAN ISLAND RESORT PLAN WOULD SEE PRIVATISATION OF NATIONAL PARK

10th April 2017 - DAYDREAM ISLAND’S $50 MILLION REDEVELOPMENT BROUGHT FORWARD

29th March 2017 - QUEENSLAND TOURISM INDUSTRY RALLIES FOLLOWING CYCLONE DEBBIE 

28th September 2016 - TROUBLED PORT HINCHINBROOK RESORT ACQUIRED BY NEW OWNERS

27th September 2016 - WTTC CALLS FOR GLOBAL TOURISM TO BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE

10th September 2016 - UNITED NATIONS DECLARES 2017 AS THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM FOR DEVELOPMENT 

7th May 2016 - GREAT BARRIER REEF TOURISM OPERATORS CALL FOR ACTION TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE 

24th August 2015 - LINDEMAN ISLAND RESORT PROJECT MOVES FORWARD

7th June 2015 - TIRED ISLAND RESORTS HURT THE APPEAL OF GREAT BARRIER REEF TOURISM 

20th May 2015 - NEW OWNERS MOVE FORWARD WITH LINDEMAN ISLAND RESORT DEVELOPMENT

2nd February 2015 - CHINESE INVESTORS BUY DAYDREAM ISLAND 

2nd March 2013 - GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND RESORT REDEVELOPMENT GETS QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT APPROVAL

28th April 2009 - FITZROY ISLAND RESORT GOES INTO RECEIVERSHIP

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