Easter weekend tourism in the tropical north was down on previous years, with a sharp increase in last-minute bookings

Easter weekend tourism was down compared to previous years across the tropical north but this is how last-minute travellers provided a welcome to boost for local operators.

At the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon are (from left) Nick Rado, Anna McGavin, Kaia McGavin, Leon McGavin and Joel McGavin. Picture: Elodie Jakes

Easter weekend bookings in Cairns were down by up to 10 per cent compared to previous Easter periods, with holiday-makers bargain hunting, flying overseas and booking more trips last minute than ever before.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen said a range of factors, from natural disasters to the late timing of this year’s Easter weekend, drove down tourism in the region.

“Easter has been pretty solid for the tropical north. We had some real high points, including the Cassowary Coast which certainly had a really busy long weekend,” Mr Olsen said.

“But bookings for both Cairns and Port Douglas were down roughly five to ten per cent compared to previous Easter long weekend bookings.

“That’s probably still a reflection of the fact that our international numbers are only back to around 70 per cent of what they were in 2019, so you really feel it around this time of the year.”

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen. Picture: Elodie Jakes

Mr Olsen said the major flood event, which inundated Townsville in January, had a knock-on effect to Cairns tourism.

“One of our biggest markets is Townsville, and we can see that visitor numbers from Townsville were noticeably down this year,” Mr Olsen said.

“It’s likely the Townsville residents are staying a little bit closer to home this Easter.”

With the 2025 Easter weekend ending just days before the Anzac Day public holiday, a record number of Australians flew overseas for the period, which Mr Olsen said led to a drop in domestic tourism.

A record number of Australians was reported to have chosen to travel overseas for the Easter long weekend. Picture: Richard Walker

“We’ve got that back to back long weekends, so we see that some people have taken advantage of that to take their big trip for the year,” Mr Olsen said.

“Certainly, numbers out of Sydney and Melbourne are not as strong this year.”

Despite lower Easter tourism overall, the tropical north recorded a significant pick up in bookings the final days before the long weekend, particularly with visitors from Brisbane who grabbed a last-minute deal on flights.

“Within the three or four days before Easter, the numbers significantly increased,” Mr Olsen said.

“Places like the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas are fully booked this long weekend and that was a really late pick-up for them. We heard the same from hotels within Cairns.

“I think people are definitely looking for a bargain. The Queensland government and Tourism and Events Queensland came in with some really good last-minute flight specials.

“We know that Aussies are really price conscious, and the airfares can be quite expensive at the moment to the region.”

Mr Olsen said a flight from Brisbane to Cairns can cost more than $1000 return, while a flight from Brisbane to Fiji can be less than $800.

“Until the demand picks up, and therefore the seat capacity increases, we don’t usually see the prices come down, so it’s a bit of a catch 22 for Cairns,” Mr Olsen said.

“But we saw last-minute Easter flights for under $200 one way, so those airfares certainly make a difference.”

The McGavin family opted to stay local for their first Easter holiday in Cairns since moving from New Zealand nearly a year ago.

At the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon are (from left) Nick Rado, Anna McGavin, Kaia McGavin, Leon McGavin and Joel McGavin. Picture: Elodie Jakes

“For the long weekend we decided to go camping in the Yungaburra National Park,” Anna McGavin said.

“It was great to have a holiday with the kids where we didn’t have to travel too far. It’s a lot cooler up there as well.

“And camping is a nice way to have a cheap-ish holiday.”

Despite lower bookings overall in the tropical north, some local tour operators who suffered during Cyclone Jasper reported significant increases in Easter reservations.

Brett’s Kuranda and Outback Tours managing director Andrea Cameron said their passenger numbers this year were up 40 per cent on the 2024 Easter weekend.

“We’ve had a huge increase on our 2023 and 2024 Easter period numbers across all of our tours,” Ms Cameron said.

Brett’s Kuranda and Outback Tours managing director Andrea Cameron and office assistant Leone Lierich enjoyed the local food scene over the Easter long weekend.

“Last year Easter was so close to Cyclone Jasper, we had the scenic train closed and there was a lot of insecurity about whether the roads were open for our tours.

“But now I think the confidence in our region has increased.

“We needed the numbers last year and we didn’t get it, so it’s been great to finally have the traffic coming back through.”

While passenger numbers were up for the tour company, Ms Cameron noted how airfares and bargain hunting had impacted bookings.

“My Cairns tour has been very light on passengers whilst my Port Douglas tour has been very strong,” Ms Cameron said.

“The bookings were really last minute this Easter. In previous years visitors would typically book a month out, but this year a lot of our bookings have been on the day of.

“We really are subject to the airlines, so the cheaper it is to get here the more people will book our tours.”

Coowner of Nunu restaurant in Palm Cove Jason Rowbottom said the 2025 Easter weekend was “extremely busy”.

“Easter Friday was the biggest à la carte night we’ve had in 20 years,” Mr Rowbottom said.

“There was an overlap with the Easter public holiday and the Victorian school holidays, so there were lots of people in from Victoria.”

Whilst Nunu pulled in huge earnings over Easter Mr Rowbottom noted that several restaurants in Palm Cove chose to shut over the entire long weekend.

“The cost of paying the penalty rates to their staff during the long weekend makes it unviable for some of the businesses to operate on public holidays,” Mr Rowbottom said.

Casual restaurant staff were entitled to 150% of their ordinary rate across the entire Easter long weekend.

“As costs go up tourism and hospitality are going to get dropped first, because it’s discretionary spending, so it’s constantly a balancing act for us in this industry,” Mr Rowbottom said.

Originally published as Easter weekend tourism in the tropical north was down on previous years, with a sharp increase in last-minute bookings