Reopening of Great Barrier Reef Drive gets tourism back on the road to Port Douglas and Beyond

In a major boost to tourism hotspots north of Cairns, buses, tour guides, shuttles and hire cars are back on the road north after a weeks-long landslide fix of the Captain Cook Highway.

In a major boost to the tourism hotspots of Port Douglas, The Daintree and Cape Tribulation, buses, tour guides, shuttles and hire cars are back on the road as the Captain Cook Highway reopened after more than a month of repairs.

Better known in the travel industry as the Great Barrier Reef Drive, the highway reopened to

traffic from 8am as scheduled, enabling critical road access to the tourism gems north of Cairns.

Tourism Port Douglas Daintree CEO, Glen Hingley, who drove the stretch himself on Saturday, said the highway’s reopening is a great day for local tour operators and transport companies.

“We’re getting the tourism show back on the road, literally,” Mr Hingley said.

“This morning I passed many tour buses heading to Port Douglas, Mossman and the Daintree

Village, while others were headed north of the Daintree River using our ferry access. It’s

fantastic to see.”

Tourism Top End's Glen Hingley with the Top End passport

The reopening of the road will be a boost for many tourism operators, restaurants and hotels as day trippers and international travellers make the much quicker trip up the coastal highway,

Che and Trent Mulley took over the lease of The Daintree Village Hotel on the day Cyclone Jasper hit and they have been getting busier every day after the major weather event.

“We managed to open immediately after the severe flooding to give the locals somewhere to go and then the self-drive tourists started to trickle through,” Ms Mulley said.

Tour buses have been bringing visitors into Daintree village where they are tucking into burgers and fish and chips at the hotel.

Che Mulley at the Daintree Village Hotel which she and her husband Trent started leasing on the day Cyclone Jasper hit. Photo by Brian Cassey

“Within a week the tour buses arrived and we have been getting more than 100 tour bus passengers from the Cairns Adventure Group and Billy Tea Safaris a day for lunch,” she said.

Chris and Kun-ry Fah from Adelaide took advantage of the airline sales to take their children Iverson, and Preston on a Cairns holiday.

Adelaide family Chris Fah and Kun-ry Fah with sone Iverson Fah 9 and Preston Fah 7 at Daintree Village Hotel. Photo by Brian Cassey

The family joined Billy Tea Safaris on January 18 to see the Daintree at Mossman Gorge and visit the Barron Falls Lookout and were enjoying their lunch at the Daintree Village Hotel.

“We wanted to take the kids to see the Great Barrier Reef for the first time and they loved seeing a colourful giant clam and a shark,” Mr Fah said.

“We did that with Evolution yesterday and now we have come to see the rainforest.”

The Clifford family from Melbourne had planned their Tropical North Queensland holiday earlier in the year and hired a car to drive the scenic inland route via Mareeba and Julatten to Port Douglas for a week’s vacation.

Max Clifford, 7, and Chloe, 9, from Melbourne travelled with their parents Andrew and Sarah for a week-long holiday in Port Douglas. They leave Monday and are looking forward to travelling back along on the coast road to Cairns. Picture: Brian Cassey

Andrew, Sarah and their children Max, 7, and Chloe, 9, are looking forward to returning to Cairns Airport via the Great Barrier Reef Drive on Monday.

Originally published as Reopening of Great Barrier Reef Drive gets tourism back on the road to Port Douglas and Beyond