Taking Flight! Interstate Travellers keen for Tropical North Queensland Holidays

Rowan Anderson

Journalist

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Four Mile Beach is only one of the beaches that draws visitors to tropical FNQ IMAGE: Credit Manny Moreno

A campaign run by Tourism Tropical North Queensland is about to deliver the equivalent of fifty full 737-800 planes of interstate passengers to the regions.

The campaign had offered interstate travellers booking through Webjet a $100 flight subsidy with the initiative receiving grant funding from the Australian Government, under the Recovery for Regional Tourism program administered by Austrade.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen praised the offer and spoke on the resulting arrivals before November 20 helping to generate an additional $15 million in visitor spend for the destination.

“Around 30,000 people a day were searching for flights to Cairns during July and the offer to get $100 off their fare helped more than 10,000 to make the decision to travel before the Christmas school holidays,” Mr Olsen said.

“The June/July school holidays were very busy in Tropical North Queensland, and we are looking forward to seeing that repeated in the September/October holidays with the discounted flights helping to push numbers up in between those peak times.

“The lure of a warm tropical holiday in a destination where nature is the backdrop for transformative world-class experiences is swaying Australians to rediscover Tropical North Queensland.

“Places like Port Douglas, Palm Cove, Cape York and the Savannah Way booked out quickly during the school holiday periods and those who decided to stay in Cairns city, the Atherton Tablelands and the Cassowary Coast were delighted with what they found.

“Each region has its own personality – whether it’s quiet beaches and islands on the Cassowary Coast or crater lakes and food trails on the Tablelands – and visitors are realising they need to come back and explore more of Tropical Norths Queensland’s World Heritage Areas.

“International visitors have started to trickle back with the addition of direct flights from New Zealand and Japan last month, but we are still a long way from recouping the $1 billion international travel market for the destination so need to continue to drive demand for domestic visitation.”

CEO of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, Tara Bennett commented on the appeal of the tropical north and said that the uniqueness of the region held it in a great position to attract more visitors into the future.

“Being able to bundle the reef, rainforest, wildlife, and cultural experiences in a laid-back beach location is the advantage of attracting visitors to the Port Douglas and Daintree region.”

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