Tourism Tropical North Queensland

Hot on the heels of being named one of Australia’s top tourism towns, Port Douglas and the Daintree will be showcased to 16 leading Australian travel agents this week.

Tropical North Queensland operators reported positive feedback from the Australian Tourism Exchange in Adelaide last week with more than 50 people joining the TTNQ team to sell the destination.

What’s new in Cairns & Great Barrier Reef this winter from tours and attractions, accomodation, food and beverage and events.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen said the strong Tropical North Queensland contingent would ensure the destination gained maximum exposure at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE26).

The first 400 bookings for a Tropical North Queensland holiday with My Queensland from today (May 5) will receive a $300 bonus on package deals for travel during May and June, as part of a destination brand campaign to drive immediate visitation to the region.

Rising fuel costs, soft visitor numbers and ongoing global uncertainty continue to overshadow our industry as we edge closer to Tropical North Queensland’s peak tourism season and wonder how this much-needed busy time of the year will be impacted.

A sunset cruise with cocktails, a gin masterclass, wine flights paired with local food and a craft beer festival are among the events to raise your glass to during April’s Tasting the Tropics in Tropical North Queensland.

Tropical North Queensland’s inaugural month-long celebration of local food and drink begins on Wednesday (April 1) with Tasting the Tropics.

Tropical North Queensland led the State’s record growth in international visitation in 2025 with international visitor spend in our region hitting a record $1.2 billion, a 24% year on year growth. 

Australia’s oldest professional tourism guiding course is incorporating modern citizen science activities into a field school in Cairns this week to train the next generation of Savannah Guides.

The one-month countdown is on for the 20th anniversary of the Undara Rock & Blues Festival on April 24-26 with locals encouraged to head west and support operators along the Savannah Way.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) is bringing the destination’s unique food story to life in April with the launch of Tasting the Tropics.

Cairns Harbourside Hotel has reduced water usage in their laundry by half, saving about 1.5 million litres of water a year as part of its commitment to reducing water use and is implementing an AI program to further reduce consumption.

Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef has launched a refreshed website to inspire meeting planners to discover transformational experiences for their next event.

Home to one of the world’s seven natural wonders, one of the oldest rainforests and the oldest living culture with more than 60,000 years of connection to country, Tropical North Queensland has a long history of tourism-led conservation.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s largest campaign for 2026, Summer Lives on in the Tropics, launched on 16 January to drive visitation from March through to early June after a soft start to the year.

Two international campaigns celebrating the Great Barrier Reef have earned Tourism Tropical North Queensland the Initiative of the Year in the global Regenerative Travel Impact Awards 2025.

Tropical North Queensland is the best performing region in the State after achieving record international spend and visitation generated by campaign activity delivered through the $15 million Federal Government Tourism Recovery Program. 

The year 2025 is ending on a high with news of record international spend and visitation making Tropical North Queensland the best performing region in the State for both total and holiday visitors.

It may not snow in Queensland in December, but underwater, the Great Barrier Reef is putting on its own kind of snowfall in a dazzling underwater exhibition of new life.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) is developing a region-wide celebration of local food and drink experiences to showcase the incredible chefs, producers, and agritourism stories that make Tropical North Queensland unique.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen said the lucrative international business event would continuously bring groups of around 450 to 500 delegates on four-night itineraries across 22 days.

The Tropical North Queensland tourism industry’s commitment to excellence was recognised on Friday night with 23 Queensland Tourism Awards including nine gold awards for our destination’s innovation, resilience and customer service.

The 2025 Qantas and Jetstar TNQ Tourism Industry Excellence Awards at the Cairns Convention Centre on October 24 celebrated the 50th anniversary of Tourism Tropical North Queensland with 350 guests at the gala event.

As we celebrate Indigenous Business Month it is exciting to see international visitors returning to Tropical North Queensland’s Indigenous experiences. Members of the TNQ Indigenous Experiences Cluster Group are reporting great numbers.

First Nations tourism operators are enjoying increased business as international tourism numbers return to Tropical North Queensland with some reporting record figures at the TNQ Indigenous Experiences Cluster Group meeting today (October 14) during Indigenous Business Month.

More than 1320 additional jobs have been created in Tropical North Queensland after a record 110 Tourism Tropical North Queensland-led international campaigns in 2024-25 delivered an extra 213,700 visitors through the support of the Australian Government funded international recovery program which ended in June 2025. 

Tropical North Queensland’s Welcome Ambassadors are greeting the Carnival Adventure with copies of the newly launched Cruise Map as more than 3000 passengers and 1000 crew disembark in Cairns today (September 15).

Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s (TTNQ) record 110 international campaigns in 2024-25 delivered an extra 205,000 visitors to the region supporting more than 1500 additional jobs in our communities.

In 1975 Australia was on the cusp of its tourism revolution and at the forefront was the Far North Queensland Promotion Bureau, preceding the State tourism organisation and arguably the first regional tourism organisation in the country.

See what’s new in tours and attractions, accommodation, food & beverage and events.

More than 1.2 million people world-wide have shown their support for the Great Barrier Reef to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in the United Nations Environment Programme’s highly regarded Champions of the Earth environmental awards.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland has wrapped up the end of financial year with some outstanding results from the more than 110 international campaigns we have delivered this year alone through the International Tourism Recovery Fund delivered through Austrade.

Four Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) members have joined the Ecotourism Hall of Fame marking 20 years of continued commitment to global best practice sustainability standards.

TTNQ’s members were given an invaluable update on where the tourism industry is heading at the 2025 My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference held at the Pullman Reef Hotel Casino yesterday with more than 120 delegates attending.

TNQ tourism industry mourns the passing of one of its legends.

May is the month of Masters in Tropical North Queensland with hockey teams, mountain bikers and an array of athletes arriving in Cairns to swim, run, play netball, and compete in new events like pickleball at three key sporting championships that together will inject $9.4 million into the region.

The Great Barrier Reef has been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award in the United Nations Environment Programme’s highly regarded Champions of the Earth environmental awards.

Promoting the Great Barrier Reef as an international icon that everyone should visit in their lifetime is critical to its future protection and the prosperity of the many regional communities that this World Heritage area supports.

Cairns Marlin Marina will be the home base for three superyachts with the arrival of the Morris Nautical’s M.Y. Northern Escape, M.Y Flying Fish and M.Y Beluga highlighting the city’s capabilities as a superyacht hub.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s members are front and centre of our engagement with tourism trade partners around the world this month through webinars and face-to-face appointments as we approach the end of our Federally funded campaign activity.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) has published its first annual Sustainability Report charting the extensive work undertaken to guide the industry towards reducing carbon emissions and contributing to the local environment and community.

Global expectations are rising for the tourism industry to move beyond providing experiences to ensuring tourism is sustainable and contributing to the future of our natural environments and our communities.   

A second hectare of tree kangaroo habitat has been planted today by the tourism industry as part of Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s partnership with Reforest to connect the industry with local carbon removal and ecosystem restoration.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Webjet are working together again to offer discounted airfares to Cairns for travel until the end of May 2025 with up to $125 off interstate flights and $100 off intrastate flights after a record-breaking sale late last year.

Happy New Year – just a few weeks in and 2025 is already feeling more promising than the devastation that Tropical North Queensland was facing last year.

As this tumultuous year comes to an end, it is time to reflect on the great progress we have made as a collective towards our ambitious goal of reaching $5 billion of visitor spend.

The announcement by Fiji Airways today (November 20) that it will launch direct services to Cairns from April 10 will speed up recovery from the North American market, according to Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ).

Everyone involved in welcoming guests to Tropical North Queensland is set to benefit from the new Tropical North Queensland Welcomes You program.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland welcomes the new Minister for the Environment and Tourism, and Minister for Science and Innovation Andrew Powell to the Queensland Cabinet.

The Tropical North Queensland tourism industry recognised its innovative people and products at the 2024 Expedia Group TNQ Tourism Industry Excellence Awards at the Screen Queensland Studio in Cairns on October 25.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s ability to multiply the value of funding through strategic partnerships continued in 2023-24 by generating $177.8 million in domestic and international visitor expenditure and a record $300 million in advertising value equivalent including $123 million in publicity.

The Tropical North Queensland tourism sector could become a $7.5 billion industry by 2032 supporting an extra 12,500 regional jobs and contributing an additional $780 million in tax revenue per annum.

The Tropical North Queensland tourism sector could become a $7.5 billion industry by 2032 supporting an extra 12,500 regional jobs and contributing an additional $780 million in tax revenue per annum.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen paid tribute to Sir Frank Moore, the father of tourism in Queensland, who passed away yesterday (October 10).

More than 4400 Aussies have booked flights to Cairns in just 36 hours following a partnership between Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Webjet to increase visitation to the region from November through to May.

The cruise season is underway in Tropical North Queensland with 14 scheduled visits in October including the Pacific Encounter today (October 8) with 2600 passengers ahead of a very busy November.

Discounted Cairns airfares launch on Monday (October 7) as part of a marketing campaign strategy to drive visitation during the low season to Tropical North Queensland.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) generated more than $37 million in sales in the China market last financial year helping to grow the Chinese market by around 20,000 visitors for the region.

The tourism industry of Tropical North Queensland welcomes the ALP commitment and seeks bipartisan support for a $10 million investment over four years to drive our region’s recovery and the future growth of tourism in Queensland.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) is seeking bipartisan commitment for the State Government to fund destination marketing for the next four years to support about 2185 jobs and bring in more than $735 million in visitor expenditure for the Queensland economy.

Conservation curious travellers can visit the newly launched website and work through a series of short educational videos and fast, each with a coupon reward system to use with Expedia bookings on the Great Barrier Reef.

The Business Events sector is setting multiple records for Tropical North Queensland with record visitation and record leads playing an ongoing key role in the region’s recovery.

Early results from TTNQ’s global campaigns are showing an incredible 37:1 return on investment with $82 million in overnight visitor expenditure already reaped from 51 international campaigns and another 44 campaigns yet to be reported on.

New Zealand’s top Expedia Travel Agent Affiliate Program agents were rewarded with an eight-day famil of Tropical North Queensland ahead of an increase in direct flights to Cairns.

Global tourism recovery trends, changing consumer behaviour, and responsible artificial intelligence use are among the topics to be discussed at the My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference at the Hilton Cairns tomorrow (June 19).

A toolkit to help tourism operators develop new experiences and encourage visitors to the Gulf Savannah beyond the peak season will be launched next week to help boost the region’s resilience after natural disasters.

An accessible rainforest canopy walkway and a kayak launcher are among 46 new Tropical North Queensland initiatives to result from Queensland’s Year of Accessible Tourism.

That’s the latest major tourism marketing offensive Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) is kicking off today, in its biggest campaign in more than a decade, and Tropical North Queensland has a starring role.

Described as the ‘epitome of a tropical paradise’ Tropical North Queensland’s Palm Cove has been crowned best beach in the world by Conde Nast Traveller magazine.