Nancy Come Lately: Former US House Speaker ‘expected’ to visit Far North next year after meeting with Federal Tourism Minister

The federal tourism minister is banking on a dramatic upsurge in international tourists to the region over the next 12 months – and he reckons a high profile US politician will be among them.

US Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, had previously been told “all about the Great Barrier Reef” by former US President Bill Clinton is expected to visit the Far North next year. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

The federal tourism minister is banking on a dramatic upsurge in international tourists to the region over the next 12 months – and he reckons a high profile US politician will be among them.

Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell told Newscorp he thinks international tourism visitors to the Far North will “surpass pre-covid levels by next year”.

Mr Farrell, who was in Cairns for the Queensland Tourism Awards and also visited some of the area’s key attractions, said he expected most of the tourists to come from China.

“I have just returned from a trip from the US, South Korea, and China. There is pent-up demand – particularly in China. People haven’t had the chance to travel, and so they have built up their savings,” he said.

The Federal Minister said the Chinese tourists tend to be “high value” and seem “prepared to spend up.”

Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell at Mossman Gorge on Friday.

In the year before Covid, there were 876,000 visitors to the Far North.

Across Australia, there were nearly 9.5 million in 2019.

When Covid hit in early 2020 and the international border shut soon after, those numbers dwindled to just 246 arrivals in 2021

“I’ll make this prediction: in 12 months, international tourism in Far North Queensland will be higher than pre-Covid,” Mr Farrell said.

“The demand is there. The airlines are coming back. You have such fabulous offerings here … you’ve got the reef and the hotels,” Mr Farrell said.

Earlier this month, Mr Farrell found himself sitting next to former speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at the Indo-Pacific Forum in San Francisco, and he said he took the opportunity to talk about Cairns and its surrounding attractions.

“She has visited 83 countries, but she has never visited Australia. I’ve invited her up to Far North Queensland to experience the reef and everything else there is to offer; I said, ‘it’s a magical place to come,’ and she didn’t need any convincing at all.”

He said Bill Clinton had previously told Ms Pelosi “all about the Great Barrier Reef”.

Mr Farrell described the 83-year-old former speaker, whom he first met at the Forum in November, as “softly spoken” but with a “sense of authority about her.”

“I expect she will fly here with United Airlines sometime next year,” he said.

Originally published as Nancy Come Lately: Former US House Speaker ‘expected’ to visit Far North next year after meeting with Federal Tourism Minister