Festive time for tourism industry
Two cruise ships and new flights from China will make for a busy Christmas period
TOURISM operators are bracing for a busy festive season, with hotel occupancy rates high and cruise ship visitors coming in their thousands.
Two cruise ships, carrying 2000 passengers, will dock in Cairns on Christmas Day.
“Cairns and Tropical North Visitor Information Centre olunteers will greet the Aidacara on her maiden voyage and the
Regatta at the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal,” said Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close.
“Hotels and resorts in the CBD are around 81 per cent occupancy and should fill with last-minute bookings up to New Year’s Eve, when the city is full.
“Port Douglas has 62 per cent occupancy, but bookings are starting to come in and the same is happening at the Cairns northern beaches as families arrive on school holidays.
“Domestic travellers from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide are among the visitors, which also includes European – from families to backpackers – who are escaping their cold winter.”
Herron Todd White research director Rick Carr said the start of tri-weekly China Southern flights from Guangzhou would help boost a traditionally quiet time of year.
“The China flight start-ups have occurred at the right time,” he said.
“Tourism is very much a seasonal industry, but the big advantage is with the flights. Chinese tourism will take place throughout the year, which will help fill gaps and flow on positively to the economy.”
But Pete Faulkner, principal of Mission Beach-based business consultancy Conus, said the decline in domestic visitor numbers was a worrying trend.
“Tourism generally is still holding up very well as long as the Australian dollar doesn’t appreciate suddenly,” he said.
“The only thing that is concerning people is the decline in domestic tourism.
“That’s a bit disturbing. It’s been going up in Queensland generally, but in the Far North it has dropped and domestic expenditure is the biggest part of tourism.
“One of the reasons we don’t want to see the Australian dollar go back up to parity, is that it is going to make overseas destinations like Japan much more affordable.”
Mr Faulkner believed the “slightly dated offerings of sun, sea and sand” did not excite domestic travellers anymore and more had to be done with cultural and culinary tourism.