Aussies’ love affair with our paradise
SYDNEY tourists Toby Breider and Liz Woolnogh toast Palm Cove’s inclusion in a list of the top 10 tourist towns of Australia at 27 Degrees cafe. But Palm Cove is a suburb, you say? It’s all about the destination.
A BEACHSIDE suburb of Cairns has inexplicably cruised into a list of the top 10 tourist towns of Australia – not that locals are surprised.
Hotel reservation website Wotif has placed Palm Cove at number seven on its Aussie Town of the Year Awards based on visitor reviews and its own pricing and demand data.
The suburb’s “unofficial queen” Melaleuca Resort manager Margaret Coop – so dubbed by others in the industry – was less than shocked.
“I’m only surprised we’re not number one,” she said.
Wotif travel expert Chris Milligan explained Palm Cove was included as a separate town based on search data.
“When people are travelling, they are travelling to Palm Cove, not Cairns,” Mr Milligan said.
Tourism Palm Cove president Richard Hewitson put much of the success down to business owners reinvesting in the community.
“A classic example of that was the New Year’s Eve fireworks – local businesses chipped in $15,000 for the two shows,” Mr Hewitson said.
Posh Photography owner Ian Stone said about 400 couples – the vast majority were from out of town – came to tie the knot each year.
“There’s 30 restaurants and cafes within a kilometre, so we’re spoiled for choice in eating out,” he said.
He believed strict architectural planning controls were part of Palm Cove’s attraction.
“Nothing is allowed to be built higher than the coconut or melaleuca trees,” Mr Stone said.
“If you go out to sea just 100m, it doesn’t look like there’s anything there – it’s like a deserted beach.”