Tourism hub to supercharge Far North’s visitor economy
A “concierge” service for Queensland tourism operators will turn red tape rage into results with permits, grants and applications streamlined through a round-the-clock support service, a Far North MP says.
A “concierge” service for Queensland tourism operators will turn red tape rage into results with permits, grants and applications streamlined through a round-the-clock support service, a Far North MP says.
But the Member for Cairns has questioned the state government’s recent tourism record in the region.
Member for Mulgrave Terry James said COVID, Tropical Cyclone Jasper and flooding had placed huge strain on tourism businesses in the region with many unsure how to access support.
In its place, the Tourism Support Hub will provide 65,000 tourism-related business with access to a single point of contact that will provide a response to inquiries within 24 hours.
“We want to give a personalised service,” Mr James said.
“So they can phone in, talk to somebody and that person will be allocated to the tourism operator be it a small mum and dad business and you know we’ve got 65,000 tourism businesses in Queensland.”
Cairns Adventure Group director Roderic Rees said long waits for approvals had hampered large and small operators across the state.
“A good example is within the last two years, there was a wait in excess of six months to process permit applications,” Mr Rees said.
“That process needed immediate addressing and this government stepped up and addressed that as part of the Destination 2045 tourism plan.”
The hub will help small businesses wade through the more than 400 permit and grant application opportunities available to tourism operators in the state, Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said.
“As a small to medium enterprise, you don’t have time to bounce around the eligibility criteria,” Mr Olsen said.
“What this program does is go one step further. It gives you a personalised contact who has a 24-hour response period, and you get to stay in contact with them.
“We saw through Jasper how valuable it was to be able to go back to the same person … and ask a follow-up question. An industry can spend hundreds or thousands of hours running around in a circle only to find out they’re not eligible, or they needed to do something else.
“So this is a great response … but more than that, it should drive innovation.”
TTNQ remained a strong advocate for a tourism levy in the Far North whereby funding from visitor expenditure was re-invested into infrastructure and services, Mr Olsen said.
“On any given day, particularly over this summer, one in four people who will be here in Cairns will be a visitor,” he said. “We don’t want to do that through taxing our ratepayers.
“More than 400 communities in 100 countries now use some form of user pays model to support their development and growth, and particularly their marketing.
“If we’re going to reach the bold ambition of doubling the value of the visitor economy between now and 2045, funding is essential.”
Cairns MP Michael Healy said the LNP’s support for the tourism industry – which pumps $110 million into the state’s economy every day – had been poor.
“I hope the hub idea works and if it does great,” the former Tourism Minister said.
“But directing people to a phone number to a government department isn’t anything new.
“So far we’ve had Crankworx pulled, we have lost Air Asia flights to Cairns under this government.
“If we’re not attracting more international visitors through airline carriers, then the hub won’t matter. When will they start addressing the big issues and finally tell us what is happening with Double Island?”
The state government plans to “supercharge” the state economy by increasing visitor expenditure to $84bn by 2045.
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Originally published as Tourism hub to supercharge Far North’s visitor economy
