Far North on the rise for domestic tourism

AUSTRALIANS holidaying in the Far North have smashed through the two million mark for the first time.

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AUSTRALIANS holidaying in the Far North have smashed through the two million mark for the first time.

The latest domestic visitor data shows in the year to June 2018, a record 2,041,000 visitors (13 per cent growth) to the Tropical North spent a record $2.34 billion (more than 25 per cent growth).

Tropical North Queensland was the ninth most popular destination in Australia for domestic tourism.

The National Visitor Survey report says growth was driven by both intrastate visitation (up by 7.8 per cent to 1.30 million visitors) and interstate visitation (up by 23.6 per cent to 741,000 visitors), coming from Sydney (up by 32.1 per cent) and Melbourne (up 28.3 per cent).

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The report says a combination of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the “Find your perfect next …” campaign targeting high-end travellers also helped.

“The higher commercial accommodation rates in the region might have contributed to the growth of overnight expenditure to the TNQ region,” it says.

Cairns MP Michael Healy said the data “just goes to show that our strategy to grow this sector locally is paying off”.

He said a record number of Australians wanted to experience what was on offer in the Far North.

Mr Healy said they were spending more than before.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close said the results were pleasing, but only a snapshot in time.

Originally published as Far North on the rise for domestic tourism