CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
Mayor says small levy on visitors could help take our tropical destination to the world
A $1 levy on each of the 2.9 million visitors to the Far North each year could make a big difference to the marketing of the region.
The small impost could raise an extra $3 million to give Tourism Tropical North Queensland more funding on top of its annual $8.2 million budget.
The proposal is something Cairns Mayor Bob Manning is prepared to consider to help promote the region.
Tourists like Argentinian couple Agostine Delorenzi and Juan Martin Criniti say they loved their visit to Cairns, with snorkelling a big drawcard.
TOURISTS to the Far North would be hit with a levy to help attract more visitors to the region under a concept being considered by Cairns Mayor Bob Manning.
Cr Manning said the “modest” levy could be charged per night via accommodation houses and directly flow to Tourism Tropical North Queensland to fund their efforts to promote FNQ both domestically and overseas.
Last financial year TTNQ’s budget was $8.2 million which consisted of $2 million from Cairns Regional Council, plus State Government grants, just under $1 million from Tourism and Events Queensland and $585,000 in business memberships.
The Gold Coast’s 2017/18 budget was $17 million, propped up mostly by a levy charged to businesses and collected by the Gold Coast City Council.
Cr Manning said it would have taken “gumption” to in- troduce such a tariff and did not want to replicate it here, but believed something needed to change in the Far North.
He said with 2.9 million people visiting the region last year, their contribution would only need to be small to have an impact.
“They (the Gold Coast) made it an unfair playing field and we too could go and build a mechanism into our tourism model where we collect more funds from tourists to promote our area which could probably match what the Gold Coast is getting,” he said.
“It’s a very sensitive issue, I wouldn’t like to treat it lightly, but we need to look at it and make some sense out of it.
“We need to get in there and stoke the furnace a bit.”
TTNQ chief executive Pip Close said a funding model could potentially ensure the region’s future economy remained stable.
She said funding model types, including a tourist levy, would need “careful analysis”, looking at what had worked in other destinations.
“Sustainable funding for destination marketing is the only way forward for Tropical North Queensland to attract the attention it deserves in the consumer space,” she said.
“Whilst our regional economy is diverse, tourism plays a major part in its economic environment.
“Therefore TTNQ would support any new funding model that benefits our community.
“Tourism is in an incredibly competitive environment. We simply must have more funds to market our region.”
TTNQ asked a selection of members with large and small tourism businesses for their marketing spend and found 15 operators, including hotels, tours and attractions, collectively spent more than $12.9 million a year on selling the destination.
TOURISM, IT’S PRICELESS Tomorrow, read about tourism workers in Tropical North Queensland, where the best jobs are and what the industry means to people on the frontline.