CEO & Board Updates

2021 presents our region with both challenges and opportunities. Our primary international markets will hopefully be returning to the region, and we have a real opportunity to increase our share of Australians travelling at home in 2021.

The Cairns & Great Barrier Reef tourism industry has 125 million reasons to be happy with the confirmation that visitors from Greater Sydney and Victoria will be able to travel from 1 December.

Summer is upon us and with it comes regular quenching rainfall, sweet tropical produce, crystal clear waters on the reef and the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef “Summer Great. Leave Greater.” campaign, which launched on Sunday 25 October.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) has secured a $16.5 million five-year funding agreement with Cairns Regional Council.

Cairns & Great Barrier Reef will be in the spotlight next week with Queensland’s Cabinet, the State’s tourism leaders and the Today Show’s weather team all in region.

With travel restrictions lifting, except from Victoria, TTNQ is ramping up its domestic marketing activities in Queensland and interstate. We are working in close cooperation with the airlines, Tourism and Events Queensland and our retail partners to align our marketing efforts.

During the COVID-19 lock-down in April and May TTNQ’s marketing and digital activity reached more than 2 million Australians generating an advertising value equivalent of $4.3 million with a limited marketing spend.

What do you love about our region that you are looking forward to sharing with your mates when travel restrictions ease?

The Prime Minister’s announcement of the JobKeeper payment could be a lifeline for tourism businesses needing to retain staff while they are not able to trade. TTNQ and our members have lobbied for a wage subsidy as a priority for the tourism sector and I encourage you to investigate whether it will assist your business.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland is taking action to ensure your business is supported through these unprecedented times. We are lobbying for business support funding to be made available for our region, while still pushing on with our local and drive campaigns with television and digital advertising targeting the regional Queensland drive market.

Tourism has never faced a tougher time in the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region, but it is gratifying that the industry has come together in recent weeks to lobby our politicians for assistance, which has resulted in some positive outcomes.

Today I am joining tourism industry representatives to meet with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones in Brisbane to discuss the outlook for the region in the wake of the coronavirus and southern bushfires and how we can move forward.

Conscious of the impact of the bushfires both on our southern State counterparts and on our local operators, TTNQ’s marketing efforts have been delayed by a few weeks to ensure we are striking a balance in the market.

A new decade is just around the corner and with it a fresh, new brand platform to help Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) members throughout the region promote Cairns & Great Barrier Reef. The aim is to inspire travellers who want to see the world differently and know that they have made a difference by choosing to visit our region.

Congratulations to the TTNQ members who won gold and bronze at the 2019 Queensland Tourism Awards and well done to those who attended the event to fly the flag for Tropical North Queensland.

The welcoming nature of residents in Tropical North Queensland has been confirmed in a new study examining the social impact of tourism on the local community.

Since the early 1990s it has been my dream to be back in the tourism industry in Tropical North Queensland and here I am.

As I enter my last days as CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, I want to say thank you to our members. The tourism industry in this region is a resilient and important industry. It is diverse and supported by entrepreneurial people whom I have enjoyed sharing part of the stage with for the past two years.

TTNQ is undertaking its largest ever domestic marketing campaign after receiving matched funding from the State Government and Cairns Regional Council for a $2.8 million campaign.