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.
The autumn campaign targets the domestic market nationally with a focus on Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide to drive consumer demand with strong tactical activity.
The low-season campaign includes social media, high-impact online display, print, billboards and bus advertisements. It is supported by retail partnerships with Luxury Escapes, My Queensland and Expedia, with the My Queensland campaign currently live.
Work is also underway in our international markets as we finalise our agreement with the Federal Government for the $3 million funding for an international Great Barrier Reef campaign. Asia Sales and Marketing Manager Sam Sakamoto has just completed a two-week roadshow across four cities in Japan with 15 members as part of the TTNQ and Experience Gold Coast Japan mission. Team TNQ did 10 seminars, including post-mission seminars, meeting with more than 500 agents – a record attendance for TTNQ roadshows.
We are looking forward to increased Chinese New Year visitation as we approach the Year of the Horse on February 17 after our direct seasonal Cathay Pacific flights helped to boost Chinese visitor numbers by 63% to 43,000 for the year end September 2025.
An additional Singapore Airlines widebody A350 service will begin during the mid-year peak in 2026. This will inject thousands of seats into the local market during our peak visitation season and offer more travel choices for international visitors, moving from four to five services per week.
Travellers will enjoy even more flexibility when daily Singapore Airlines flights begin from 1 December. This increased frequency, moving to seven services per week on a 737-8 aircraft, will improve connectivity to Tropical North Queensland ahead of the busy end-of-year holiday season, offering significant benefits for both visitors and industry. Daily services cater to a broader visitor group, which is ideal for the growing India and South-East Asia markets.
After a great end to 2025 with the boost from Amway Korea, the Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef team will be joined by 12 members at AIME in Melbourne on 9-11 February for appointments with 300 business planners over two days. The team will be launching a new business events website which they will proudly demonstrate from a zero-waste destination stand designed with local partner NQ Exhibitions.
Next week we will have the Tourism and Events Queensland team updating our industry on their international markets and I look forward to connecting with you then.
Mark Olsen
Chief Executive Officer