Route a ‘game changer’
TOURISM Tropical North Queensland boss Mark Olsen has backed a “game-changer” push to develop direct access into Europe with marketing strategies already in play.
TTNQ will send its Western and Asian marketing heads into the overseas regions in December and January as key tourism stakeholders gauge how hot the markets are for Far North travel.
It comes after Cairns Airport chief executive Richard Barker confirmed a dream non-stop Euro route between German hub Frankfurt and Cairns was being sought.
Mr Olsen said Europe was a key player when international travel was pumping an eye-watering $1bn into the region’s economy before the coronavirus hit.
European visitors had the longest length of stay with an average of 10 nights and the highest spend of any other traveller, at around $1200 per trip.
“Direct flights are always a game changer in opening up or expanding a visitor market as evidenced in the past when new routes opened to Cairns from Japan and China,” he said.
“Singapore was an important gateway for the European market which would have become even more popular with SilkAir about to rebrand from its budget carrier to Singapore Airlines as the pandemic broke out.
“Prior to that access was via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific so it is important that we attract an airline that services the European market as we open up for international travel and seek to reconnect with key markets.”
Mr Olsen said tourism marketing “has been turned upside down” in the last 18 months and the industry was still figuring out the best way of re-engaging with key markets, such as Japan, China and the USA.
Meanwhile, Mr Barker said a multimillion-dollar facelift of the international terminal at Cairns Airport would be as “cost effective” as possible, saying consolidating the food and beverage facilities of the newly upgraded domestic terminal was an option.
His comments are in line with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, who stopped short of endorsing a “Taj Mahal” style upgrade earlier this year given international tourism is unlikely to build significant momentum until 2024.
“So my advice to Cairns airport is reduce costs more than anything else, don’t increase the cost by going for a Taj Mahal facility, because if you do that, there will just be less tourists and it will make the situation worse,” Mr Joyce said.
Mr Barker said around $50m could be spent on “pinch points” that needed attention, such as the tired exterior and interior and improvements to baggage belts.
“We’ll fix the things that make it a better experience for our customers and for the most cost effective ones,” he said.
“We need to give the place a spruce up on the outside and inside, so it is looking like a targeted refurbishment. We are not going to go overboard.
“Other airports around the Asia Pacific are consolidating domestic and international terminals together.”