Bite into best and brightest
Flights bringing visitors also opening up opportunities for exporters
CASSIE Crosby of Smithfield Local Fruit and Veg shows off the array of tropical fruits on display, including mangosteens, dragon fruit and custard apples. They are highly sought-after at this time of the year. Dragon fruit and mangosteens are the most popular because they have such a short season.
THE direct link between a Mareeba mango worker and a Chinese tourist snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef may not be immediately obvious, but a Cairns business leader believes the combinations are vital to the future growth of the region.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland director and ANZ Bank regional executive Jeffery Schrale said agriculture had been one of the biggest beneficiaries of an investment in the Far North’s tourism industry.
He said international flight links added to freight options which could increase how quickly products got to market.
“This has led to significant investment in agriculture in recent years, concentrated on the Atherton Tablelands,” he said.
“Cairns Airport was developed thanks to tourism and local family businesses pioneering unique experiences that have become the backbone of why people visit the region.
“The airport is a competitive advantage for the city.
“A combination of passengers and freight has always been a more sustainable model for airlines.
“Tourism does not always lend itself to selling higher value seats at the front of the plane and freight can subsidise this.”
And hiring locals ensured it was those from the Far North who were benefiting from the fruits of tourism labour, according to CaPTA Group managing director Peter Woodward.
Tourism accounts for one in five jobs in the Cairns region which was a key reason behind CaPTA’s founding of the Careers Training Centre in 2012.
Almost 470 people had graduated in the past seven years from the centre, which specialised in tourism and hospitality.
Evie Clinton, 17, left school at 15 to study at the centre, recently did her Cert 3 in captive animals and was now working at the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda.
She comes from a tourism family as her parents own Kuranda Riverboat Cruises.
“My favourite part of working in tourism is meeting a wide range people from all parts of the world and sharing my knowledge of Tropical North Queensland with them,” she said.
CaPTA is entrenched in the region, supporting many local charities, community groups and organisations.
Pip Woodward and her late husband Charles also founded COUCH – Cairns Organisation United for Cancer Health – charity in 2006 which has raised to date $2.8 million for cancer care facilities in Cairns.
Peter Woodward said CaPTA had endured tough times, but the industry had remained strong.
“During the tough mid 2000s, the reduction of Japanese flights, the global financial crisis and the SARS outbreak resulted in CaPTA Group’s workforce contracting by 15 per cent,” Mr Woodward said.
“Now, with more than 273 employees, CaPTA Group is one of the largest employers in Tropical North Queensland.”