Council makes $14.5m commitment to support tourism marketing

Cairns Regional Council is set to inject millions into efforts to lure more tourists to the region, as one councillor refloats the idea of a tourism levy to pay for it.

Barron River MP Bree James, Cairns Mayor Amy Eden and TTNQ chief executive Mark Olsen welcome news of the city securing a lucrative business event involving 2700 delegates. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

Cairns Regional Council is set to inject millions into efforts to lure more tourists to the region, as one councillor refloated the idea of a tourism levy to pay for it.

The commitment will see $14.5m pumped into destination marketing over the next four years through council's continued support of Tourism Tropical North Queensland.

The council committed to increasing funding to TTNQ from $3.4m annually to $3.525m in the first year of the new four-year agreement, increasing to $3.65m in the following three years.

Mayor Amy Eden said that the council was working to strike the right balance between supporting the tourism industry and being financially responsible with ratepayer funds, particularly when cost-of-living is a key issue for our community.

“Council’s investment in TTNQ will help grow the local tourism industry, which is critical to

our city’s prosperity,” Cr Eden said.

Stargazing in Burketown on Yagurli Tours Yaliya's Stories (Stargazing). TTNQ has released its draft destination management plan.

“Tourism generates a total economic impact of about $1.8bn each year and supports

more than 15,300 jobs in the local economy.”

Division 9 Councillor and Deputy Mayor Brett Olds said the discussion around a tourism levy, nixed by the previous state government, could be reopened to take the burden away from ratepayers.

“We saw 85 per cent of councils pushing for the idea of a tourism levy or being able to opt in to one,” he said.

“In this case instead of councils forking out ratepayer money to support groups like TTNQ, we can have that back in our pockets to be used on other needs across the region.”

The recommendation proposed at the LGAQ conference looked to charge a 2.5 per cent levy on short-term accommodation state wide.

Council modelling showed the initiative could raise more than $16m annually for destination marketing.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen welcomed the

increased investment as the tourism industry entered one of the most competitive periods in

decades.

Wavelength Reef Cruises- Images of women snorkelling on stunning coral reef and coral nursery. TTNQ has released its draft destination management plan.

“There has been a slower than expected global recovery of international travel and domestic

travel has been incredibly competitive making every dollar that TTNQ can access to promote

the region and drive conversion essential,” he said. 

“In 2023-24 TTNQ delivered $56 of visitor expenditure for every dollar invested by Cairns

Regional Council.”

Cr Olds said he was confident the newly elected state government would take care of the regions that have put it into office and marketing our destination was part of that.

“We need more attention,” he said.

“We have started off with a good relationship and we have Bree James as Assistant Minister for Tourism and Far North Queensland which is effectively a ministerial role.

“Crisafulli is an Ingham boy and he has seen how things have changed in the north over time so I’m excited for next year.”

Cr Olds said that along with events and marketing, there needed to be major inroads into issues such as crime.

“Negative words spread much further than positive so we need to see some action on things like crime and cleaning up the CBD to make sure we are a number one destination.”

Couple exploring Elim Beach and the Coloured Sands. TTNQ has released its draft destination management plan.

New funding agreements will also see ongoing support for the Babinda Taskforce and the

Babinda Visitor Information Centre which will together see a $228,000 boost.

Study Cairns will see $400,000 over the next four years Cairns to promote the region to the lucrative international education sector.

Each year, an average of 1700 student visa holders are in the region for long term study, about 680 students enrol in tertiary education courses for more than one year, and more than 2000 students arrive in Cairns on study tours.

Finally, Superyacht Group Great Barrier Reef Inc will be provided $40,000 annually over the

next four years to position the Great Barrier Reef as a premier superyacht destination.

Originally published as Council makes $14.5m commitment to support tourism marketing