Riding wave with tourists
HOTELS are bursting at the seams and Reef trips are fully booked as families celebrate the October long weekend in the tropics.
It comes on the back of strong demand over the school holidays and Wotif.com ranking Cairns as one of the best value family holiday destinations in Australia.
Reef Magic Cruises is carrying about 300 people a day to the Marine World pontoon and outer Reef, and is booked out until tomorrow.
“Normally at this time of year we’re booked out 3-4 days ahead,” said director of sales and marketing Jeff CameronSmith.
“In the past we’ve had to knock a lot of people back, so we started running a second tour during the holiday period using a spare boat.”
Tours offered by the Quicksilver Group are also filling up fast.
“It’s certainly on par with last year. We’re in what is historically one of the busiest periods of the year . . . and we’ve had outstanding weather this week,” said managing director Tony Baker.
AccorHotels is forecasting more than 92 per cent occupancy at its nine Far North hotels over the long weekend.
“Cairns has also proven a popular choice for families over the current school holiday period with our Cairns properties holding an average occupancy of above 87 per cent,” a spokeswoman said.
“Encouragingly, we have also seen the average length of stay increase.”
The Mantra Groups’s 12 resorts are also nearing capacity.
“We are experiencing a higher demand than last year,” said Mantra Group area manager for North Queensland Stefan Kracke.