FNQ tourism leaders TTNQ and MP Michael Healy talk future as international flights return
The FNQ tourism industry is waving goodbye to Covid as international flights return and tourism leaders gear up for the main priority: getting people back to Cairns. FIND OUT HOW
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COVID is in the rear-view mirror as FNQ starts to welcome back international visitors, but the recovery effort is slow going and remains a massive task for our tourism sector.
After a two years with his role being dominated by Covid navigation, Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said the future of Cairns tourism lies in showing travel as a force for good.
“When you put the world’s oldest rainforest with the best managed reef in the world, and the oldest living culture, it creates a really strong argument to suggest travel is a force for good in our area and without tourism we would find it really difficult to look after these things,” he said.
“There’s been a greater take-up of carbon offsetting and sustainable travel options and it’s been really great for destinations like ours where we’ve earnt the title of Australia’s first eco-tourism destination from Port Douglas up to the Daintree.”
However, while TTNQ remains optimistic about international travel for 2022/2023, Mr Olsen said there is a heavy reliance on the return of Cairns’ full aviation capacity to secure previous markets.
“Pre-pandemic, the highest level of visitors in the region came from continental Europe, that remains our primary target. Next will be the UK and we’re really honing in on the US market once again,” he said.
“Something that is hurting us is the travel restrictions remaining for China and Hong Kong, who we realistically won’t see again until the first quarter of 2023.
“We’re still feeling the effects of the pandemic, sadly.”
The lack of international travellers left a notable gap in the Far North’s workforce, leaving vacancies right across the board from hospitality to management.
Cairns-based owner of No Limit Adventure tours Konrad Borowiecki was forced to adapt his tourism business in the face of Covid, going from a national operation to watching as tours “trickled along” in the face of border closures and low travel confidence.
“Before Covid, our client base was 99 per cent international travellers, mostly from Europe,” he said.
“During the pandemic we started some local tours of breweries and tasting tours across the region to keep things interesting.
“We embraced the idea of having a beer with a mate. I did my research and found there wasn’t anything like it up here yet, so we gave it a crack and it paid off.”
While Mr Borowiecki said the business can “definitely feel more momentum happening” as internationals return, he hasn’t fully relaxed yet.
“I’m definitely more optimistic than I was six months ago but I’m still weary of what is happening in Far North tourism and the potential of restrictions returning.”
State MP for Cairns and assistant minister for tourism industry development Michael Healy said his main priorities are to get people coming to the region, secure additional workers and ensure the return of international flights.
“I won’t pre-empt the budget, but there are a number of projects and submissions in the works focused on these big things the industry needs.”
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