Visitor numbers strong despite Irukandji jellyfish threat

THE threat of Irukandji jellyfish is causing some alarm among tourists but doesn’t seem to be deterring them from heading to Fraser Island.

THE threat of Irukandji jellyfish is causing some alarm among tourists but doesn't seem to be deterring them from heading to Fraser Island.

Greg Alder, managing director of Australian Sunset Safaris, said his business had received several phone calls from tourists in the past week, expressing concerns about the risk of being stung while on the island.

Mr Alder is aware of just how tough it is for tourism operators at the moment - Fraser Island Trailblazer Tours was incorporated into his company last year after experiencing a downturn in tourist numbers during the off-season that hit the business hard, financially.

Now summer has arrived, numbers had picked up significantly, Mr Alder said.

"It's been very good."

He said part of the problem was tourists getting the wrong information or misunderstanding what was happening on the island.

He said he knew some of the tourists believed they could get stung by irukandji in freshwater creeks on the island.

"There's not always enough information available," he said.

"No one who travels with tour companies goes anywhere near the western side of the island."

While it did not appear to be affecting the number of people visiting the island, there was fear, Mr Alder said.

"A lot of people certainly are scared by it.

"It's certainly making a little bit of an impact.

"But we are doing very well for what we are doing."

Tourism Fraser Coast general manager Pip Close said numbers were still strong despite the marine stinger concerns.

She acknowledged future outbreaks had the potential to harm the tourism industry.

"It's not something that we've got on our radar long-term, so hoping it won't become a thing of the future," she said.