CEO-Board Updates

January 2025 CEO Update

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.

The countdown is on for Chinese New Year with the excitement starting when Cathay Pacific returned to Cairns on 17 December to a very enthusiastic welcome from our community. It was an important milestone which will encourage the continued growth of visitation from mainland China and Europe.

Already we are seeing an increase in numbers coming through the international terminal at Cairns Airport ahead of the official Chinese New Year holiday period from 28 January to 3 February and look forward to welcoming Jetstar’s inaugural flight from Christchurch and Fiji Airways in April to further boost international visitation.

The Chinese Year of the Snake is heralded as a time of profound wisdom, transformation and subtle power that encourages introspection, renewal and the embrace of change. Looking at the China market, which was our largest international market before the pandemic, we can see transformation already happening with the shift from large groups travelling in highly concentrated numbers to smaller independent groups.

This will increasingly bring us the travellers that are a good fit with a destination wanting to be a global leader in nature-based ecotourism. We are already seeing these smaller groups and independent travel groups who are confident travellers thanks to Little Red Book and C-Trip. They tend to disperse more widely throughout the region and are eager to connect more closely with local people and cultures.

While International Visitor Survey results for the year ending September 2024 show 26,000 visitors from China which is a recovery of 13.8%, conversations with industry working in the China market indicate that this figure is probably up to 20%. TTNQ contracted 34,000 passengers in 2023-24 with our International Tourism Recovery Funding. The slow recovery has been influenced by the delayed opening of borders in China, reduction of direct flights, change of domestic service schedules and China’s own internal economic challenges.

TTNQ is aggressively pursuing this market and currently has 30 campaigns in-market both directly with trade partners and in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland to support direct flights from China to Brisbane with China Eastern and China Southern. C-Trip continues to be the dominant online travel agency with one-stop payment convenience, after-sales support and chatbot interactions critical services.

We also operate official Chinese social media platforms such as Little Red Book where we collaborate with consumers, media influencers and opinion leaders to raise further awareness about Tropical North Queensland directly with consumers in China. Consumer preferences are increasingly being influenced by the content on platforms like Little Red Book.

Chinese New Year is one of the three peak seasons that shape travel behaviour from China with their summer holidays and Golden Week popular times to travel. However, off-season travel is emerging as a fashionable trend for 2025 presenting opportunities for our destination. Another opportunity is the rise in special interest travel as the market matures with consumers travelling according to their interest such as art or food.

Travel Daily’s China Tourism Consumption Trend Insights for 2025 showed cautious optimism and economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year with travel plans primarily involving domestic inter-provincial trips. Major first tier and emerging first tier cities dominate travel plans for 2025 after long-haul travel shrank by 10% in 2024 from the previous year due to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. However, consumer spending is expected to rise this year as high-income groups seek premium travel experiences.

We hope to see these high-value travellers arrive in Cairns in the coming weeks as they seek a premium destination that delivers the opportunity to enjoy quality time with family and friends honouring their cultural tradition of renewal for the New Lunar Year.

蛇年吉祥 Wishing you a happy year of the snake!

Mark Olsen
TTNQ CEO