Events add to tourism allure

SPECIAL events help safeguard an economy such as Cairns which heavily relies on the ebb and flow of tourism.

Tourism is now a year-round business for the city and region but there are periods when special events are required to bolster businesses during lean times.

In recent years the city’s portfolio of special events has been strengthened and bolstered.

Those that have been growing stronger include the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, the Reef to Reef Mountain Bike event and the Cairns Airport Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship and Ironman 70.3 Cairns.

The Cairns Festival and the Cooktown Discovery Festival target locals although are attracting more out-of-towners and tourists while Cairns Amateurs has been a fixture for more than 60 years and Chinese New Year always draws many Chinese visitors from China and Hong Kong on direct flights.

There are one-offs such as the world rafting championships at Tully in May too.

One event destined to grow quickly is Targa Great Barrier Reef.

It was held for the first time last year and organisers had to cap entries.

There are now more than 200 entries for the 2019 tour in late August-early September and organisers are expecting a sellout to make it the second biggest tarmac rally in the world after the longrunning Targa Tasmania.

The attraction of events is that participants tend to come early or stay afterwards and expand their visit beyond the boundaries of Cairns to Port Douglas, the Tablelands and the Cassowary Coast.