Aussies in love with Far North
AUSSIE travellers have put a smile on the faces of tourism operators as wide as those on Sydney sisters Amanda and Alison Tooze visiting Palm Cove. The latest figures show a record number of domestic tourists holidayed in the Far North in the year to September 2019. It’s positive news after the rough start to 2019, however there is reason to be cautious.
A RECORD number of Australians holidaying in the Far North have bolstered the region’s tourism sector.
Latest figures show surprising growth after a rough start to last year, and it was the domestic market that shone with the National Visitor Survey data showing a record 2,188,000 travellers spent $2.4 billion in Far North Queensland in the year to September 2019, a 9 per cent growth in numbers and 6 per cent growth in spending. It was driven by holiday and business visitors.
Overseas numbers eased from the previous results (to June 2019), from 849,000 to 842,000 but spending was up 1.2 per cent to $1.1 billion.
China was still the biggest overseas market with an increase of 3.1 per cent to about 212,355 and a record number of visitor nights.
The Far North showed the highest growth in Queensland of Chinese holidaymakers of 6.3 per cent, outstripping Brisbane (up 1.9 per cent) and Gold Coast (up 0.9 per cent).
The region recorded a strong increase of 8.1 per cent for US visitors to Queensland.
Japan, the UK and Germany rounded out the top five source markets.
The figures cover the 12 months before Cathay Pacific axed direct flights to and from Hong Kong in October.
Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the government was “working hard to attract more tourists because we know this has great flow-on benefits for businesses in Cairns”.
“Tourism is crucial to our economy. By investing in new attractions and growing events, we expect this sector to become even more important for Cairns in the future,” he said.
Acting Tourism Minister Grace Grace said a record 239,000 Americans spent a record $422m in Queensland over the year. New Zealand tourists spent $590m with 21.3 per cent growth in the Japanese market, $470m.
“Diversifying our visitor mix is an important part of that strategy. That’s why it’s great to see more Americans than ever before coming to Queensland. This is thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign in North America,” she said.
“We’re also seeing a resurgence in Japanese tourists to Queensland thanks to a stronger relationships with our travel partners in that region.”