Tropical North Queensland’s events calendar is in full swing with 100 community heroes from across the country attending the world-first Savannah Sounds on the Reef featuring Sheppard and Lee Kernaghan at the Reef Magic pontoon on Saturday.
This event on the outer Great Barrier Reef to promote ticket sales to Savannah in the Round was made possible by the State and Federal Governments’ Tourism Recovery Package and is one of four events to benefit from this funding.
Crankworx Cairns, Port Douglas Carnivale and Port Douglas Gran Fondo have received funding to expand their programs in a bid to target new travellers who may not have considered visiting the destination without the attraction of an event.
Party in Paradise was announced as an addition for Crankworx Cairns just last week and the expansion of more events will be announced soon.
TTNQ pushed for events to be recognised in the recovery funding as they provide an immediate impact with Savannah Sounds, for example, used as a publicity tool to further grow the economic impact of Savannah in the Round which last year delivered a $5.66 million economic impact.
Savannah Sounds has received extensive coverage in News Corp mastheads, was picked up by the Today show on the weekend and has helped to drive ticket sales for Savannah in the Round in October. Ticket sales have jumped 59% since the announcement of Kipp Moore as the headline act and Savannah Sounds.
Major and regional events have been invaluable in driving visitation in our shoulder seasons, and we are looking forward to the increased visitor numbers from May’s events – the UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championships, Crankworx Cairns and Port Douglas Carnivale.
The funding to extend these events is the last of the Tourism Recovery Package to be rolled out. All grant programs, which were the subject of TTNQ advocacy, are either in the hands of industry or awaiting their decision.
The response from our industry in applying for the Building Resilient Tourism Infrastructure Fund has been overwhelming and we are looking forward to seeing the outcome of this strategic funding.
With the assistance of the recovery funding behind us, TTNQ and the industry must work hard to build on the opportunities to grow visitation to the destination.
Our international momentum has never been stronger with 88 active campaigns currently in market globally and the TTNQ team working to capitalise on these and make the most of the additional inbound seats to Cairns this winter.
Cheers,
Mark Olsen
Chief Executive Officer