The Queensland Government’s bold ambition is to double the value of the visitor economy by 2045, with a strong focus on ecotourism, experiences and connectivity.
This week, Tropical North Queensland’s tourism industry showed their commitment to the destination, the State and the nation with the announcement of the redevelopment of Skyrail Rainforest Cableway – one of Australia’s ecotourism icons.
The Chapman family’s $85 million investment into ensuring Skyrail will remain Tropical North Queensland’s number one commercial visitor attraction for another three decades is welcome news for our destination. This commitment will inject $1.5 billion into the Cairns regional economy over the next 30 years, retaining some 470,000 visitor nights and supporting more than 43,000 jobs.
The importance of attractions like Skyrail to our destination’s $1 billion international economy cannot be overstated with more than half of Tropical North Queensland’s international holiday visitors adding half a day to their average length of stay to experience the attraction.
Skyrail’s consumer and trade marketing activity underpins not only its success, but the success of our destination with images of Skyrail helping to put Tropical North Queensland on the map globally. Skyrail is also a critical part of the region’s reputation as Australia’s leading eco-tourism destination, educating millions of visitors about one of the world’s most biologically diverse environments.
The announcement of private sector investment into this critical ecotourism project for the State demonstrates that Tropical North Queensland is the best region to deliver on Queensland’s Destination 2045 vision to grow the visitor economy.
Tropical North Queensland and indeed, Northern Australia, is the land of opportunity for tourism with its wide-open spaces, dramatic gorges, ancient rainforest and Great Barrier Reef a magnet for travellers wanting to experience a different landscape.
The Developing Northern Australia Conference held in Cairns last week discussed the tourism potential west of the Great Dividing Range. Attracting investment that increases the length of stay by one night presents a $1 billion opportunity to grow tourism along the Savannah Way and beyond.
This week we have the opportunity to put our destination in front of key aviation decision makers when the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific event comes to Cairns. It is the first time this event has been held outside a capital city, demonstrating that Cairns and Tropical North Queensland continues to be a key player in the international tourism sector.
Cheers,
Mark Olsen
Chief Executive Officer