Opportunities abound in Asia

THIS morning’s arrival of a China Southern jet brimming with excited tourists turns a new page in the history of Cairns and – with a bit of luck and a lot of hard graft – is the sign of bigger things to come.

The three-year deal is predicted to boost the region’s economy by $90 million with almost 100,000 seats available for visitors on the Guangzhou-Cairns route.

Then there is the export potential of wide-bodied aircraft flying directly to mainland China and its enormous consumer base.

The Cairns Airport crunched the numbers in October, finding the impact of thrice-weekly flights to South-East Asia could have an even bigger economic impact than currently being estimated.

A whopping $44 million per year was the number being touted, with 286 new jobs generated.

Securing daily flights, which has to be our next goal, would raise the impact to about $103 million per year, with 667 jobs being created.

Whichever way you look at it, tapping into the rapidly growing Chinese middle-class market spells a huge win for the Cairns economy.

Today’s Cairns Post coverage reveals the work that goes into a “holy grail” deal of this magnitude.

People like former Tourism Tropical North Queensland chairman Max Shepherd worked for years to get us to this position, and their efforts should be acknowledged.

The challenge now is to ensure we welcome these visitors with open arms, giving them incredible experiences so they return home spruiking Cairns as a must-see spot.

Plenty of other destinations would love to have what we’ve got, and you can bet they are hungrily working to knock us off our perch. Chris Calcino chris.calcino@news.com.au