TTNQ and Cairns Airport were part of a Tourism and Events Queensland mission to Japan over the past week celebrating the return of Japanese flights and promoting Queensland as Good to Go. TTNQ joined TEQ, Brisbane Economic Development Agency and Destination Gold Coast for seminars to around 120 trade in Osaka and Tokyo. Asia Sales and Marketing Manager Sam Sakamoto spoke about the many new developments and upgrades to Cairns tourism infrastructure and experiences during the two and a half years since flights from Japan last arrived in Cairns.
Japanese media were invited to a round table hosted by TTNQ, Cairns Airport and Tourism Investment Queensland where Sam discussed the region having the greatest number of Ecotourism-certified experiences and companies in Australia. Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker talked about future opportunities for direct connections in regional cities using the new narrow bodied jets. Cairns & Great Barrier Reef Ambassador Ryman Traveler (Hirofumi Tomatsu) was introduced to the media who were well aware of his strong social media following. Cairns Airport Manager Aviation Business Development David Nye was also in Japan for additional meetings with industry. News of the visit has already been reported by the Japanese media.
The first direct flights to Cairns from Japan arrived last week with Jetstar providing five return flights a week from Tokyo and three from Osaka. The flights are a significant milestone for the return of the key international market which prior to the pandemic brought 110,000 visitors annually to the region. Sam was part of the celebrations in Japan farewelling the first flights from Tokyo to Cairns to on 21 July and from Osaka on 26 July.
[TNQ delegation visits Japan – TTNQ Fortnightly Pulse – 27 July 2022]
