Queensland holiday hot spot heating up in trending destinations for 2024

A Queensland holiday hot spot has been recognised as one of the top 10 trending destinations around the world, according to travel giant Booking.com.

Jeremy Piercetourism reporter

@GoldCoastBureau

less than 2 min read

December 6, 2023 - 12:00AM

Lifestyle

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Cairns has been crowned one of the world’s top trending tourist destinations for 2024.

The gong comes from travel giant Booking.com with Cairns taking its place in the top 10 alongside international destinations including Portland, Oregon in the US, Merida in Mexico, Buenos Aires in Argentina and New Zealand’s thermal wonderland of Rotorua.

Data was collated from all destinations on the Booking.com platform which featured in the site’s top 1000 for total bookings between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023 and then refined to show the top 10 in terms of increased booking activity.

Cairns has been named one of the world’s top 10 trending tourist destinations by travel giant Booking.com. Picture: iStock

The top 10 were not ranked in any particular order.

It will come as welcome news for tourism operators in north Queensland, who endured a dire couple of years during the coronavirus pandemic and struggled to rebound as quickly as other regions in the state’s southeast.

Cairns and destinations along the Great Barrier Reef have often relied more heavily on international and long-distance domestic travellers than the state’s southeast, which is often fuelled by the drive market of a population of almost four million people.

A snorkeller swims on the Great Barrier Reef on a day tour from Cairns with Passions of Paradise. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland

Recent data from Tourism Research Australia shows Cairns is still well down on 2019 visitor numbers, though domestic visitor numbers to the region are up almost 15 per cent on pre-Covid levels.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said Cairns was a worthy addition to any list of top tourist destinations.

“With two World Heritage areas side-by-side and more than 2000 experiences to choose from, Cairns is ideal for a nature-based holiday,” he said.

“A vibrant food and drinks scene with waterfront restaurants, breweries, distilleries and artisan bars using the best tropical produce completes the itinerary for any holiday-maker.”

Ironically, the accolade for the tropical tourism wonderland came as results from a survey of Booking.com customers found almost half of Aussies (42 per cent) will use their holidays next year to cool down in a colder climate rather than endure hot conditions at home.

Polish tourists Maks Nowakowski and Natalia Stasik enjoy the freshwater creeks in the Cairns rainforest at Stoney Creek, Kamerunga. Picture: Brendan Radke