Tourism needs Budget boost

AS tourism really starts to hum along in the Far North, it is incumbent on the Federal Government to look after Australia’s second biggest export earner.

Tourism marketing should be well funded in the Budget tonight but there are fears it faces cuts again.

Tourism in the Far North is being led by private enterprise, people such as Syrian tycoon Ghassan Aboud who has invested $800 million in new hotel-resort developments in the centre of Cairns and a proposed marina development at Port Douglas as well as his cattle properties.

Singaporean-based Aspial is finally starting on its first residentialcommercial tower as part of a $550m spend in Spence St.

Experience Co. expands its foray into tourism, the $650m KUR-World eco-resort edges closer to reality and many Great Barrier Reef operators have invested millions of dollars in their ventures.

Cairns Airport is attracting more airline routes with more expected this year and Tourism Tropical North Queensland does a grand job on a shoestring budget.

Tourism is worth nearly $4 billion to the Far North and more than $40 billion nationally.

But federal funding to our chief marketing body, Tourism Australia, remains an issue, falling $14m less last year to $129m.

Australia faces fierce competition, particularly from close neighbours New Zealand and Bali.

The government has done great work to remove some of the barriers to tourism’s growth but there remain real sticking points that mean we are not achieving our full potential. Nick Dalton Deputy editor