TNQ’s strong lure in Japan Golden Week

NATURE-BASED experiences are driving solid growth in Japanese visitors to Tropical North Queensland for the country’s annual Golden Week holiday.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close said Golden Week ran from April 27 to May 5 and was the peak holiday period for Japanese visitors with a cluster of national holidays giving them the opportunity to travel.

“Golden Week is traditionally busy for our operators in the Japanese market and in the lead-up we have been promoting Cairns and Great Barrier Reef’s 101 Stories in conjunction with leading tour agency HIS,” she said.

“Presenting Cairns and Great Barrier Reef’s diverse experiences as the opportunity to be a part of a choice of 101 Stories has proved to be a hit with our region showing the strongest growth of any of the destinations sold by HIS.

“Bookings to Cairns have grown by 1082 per cent from the previous year with HIS package tour sales figures showing Cairns has risen from the 15th most popular destination to the fifth, after Honolulu, Taipei, Guam and Busan.

“Cairns has ranked 10th for the total number of bookings departing from Japan during Golden Week, up from 24 last year.

“Japan is a strong international market for our region with 110,000 visitors a year staying an average of six nights.”