Tourism boss, Mark Olsen, calls on Cairns to create a taste sensation after billionaire sours on city

Cairns must fill the bellies of wide-bodied aircraft and international tourists hungry for our rich and delicious homegrown produce, a leading tourism advocacy group says.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen wants to see more government investment for attracting international airlines to fly to Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Cairns’ tropical flavours and homegrown produce can spark a tourism renaissance with visitors’ taste buds poised to drive an increase in flights and pump over $1b into the region’s economy.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland has spent a year working on its Destination Management Plan aimed at providing a blueprint for the city’s economy across the next decade.

And following stinging remarks from billionaire investor Ghassan Aboud earlier this week, TTNQ CEO Mark Olsen said the time was right to “lean in” and invest in the destination’s hospitality sector and flavoursome foods.

“Between now and 2032, there’s $1b of extra visitor expenditure in high quality food and beverages,” Mr Olsen said.

“We’ve got to lean in on place-making and when investors come to town, we need to support that investment.

“We know that the demand is there but we’ve got to drive the right customer that’s going to spend that money. We can see that this can be a $7.2b economy.

“But it’s going to need $5b in capital investment.”

Ghassan Aboud Group chairman Ghassan Aboud, pictured at his first Australian hotel, Crystalbrook Riley, is running out of patience with the Cairns Regional Council and the state government after years of “broken promises”. Picture: Brendan Radke

Keeping the bellies of outbound wide-bodied aircraft full as well as those of hungry tourists would have the added benefit of making Cairns a more economically fruitful venture for international airlines.

“We’ve got to be value-adding,” Mr Olsen said. “We’ve seen the Queensland government invest in a food storage facility (at the airport) to put it onto the planes but we’ve got to do more.

“This asset we have, combined with our proximity to Asia, most cities in the world would kill for that.

“We’ve got to make the most of the opportunity.”

This week Mr Aboud highlighted his plan to sell Far North Queensland produce in the Middle East through Grandiose Supermarket as an example of an opportunity the state government failed to seize.

“I spoke here with so many politicians and the business community,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m ready to support you to take the product from here to the Middle East’.

“What they do? Nothing. Nobody cared.”

The international entrepreneur, who owns three hotels in Cairns worth around $600m, has already started to divest after announcing plans to sell the Port Douglas marina this week.

Mr Aboud said it was time for civic leaders to show some vision for the region.

“They need to show us the plan,” Mr Aboud said. “Then the business people will come.”

“I don’t want support from anybody. Me, I could support (the) government.

“But they need to see what they need to do to make life continue in this corner. Is it a fair situation when you see so many businesses shutting down?”

TTNQ’S DEMANDS OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT

Spend $100m on an Aviation Attraction Investment Fund

Build a business and events investment fund to keep money flowing through the region during quiet periods

Secure blue chip investors to spend money in Far North Queensland

Encourage homegrown exports being sent on outbound international flights

Originally published as Tourism boss, Mark Olsen, calls on Cairns to create a taste sensation after billionaire sours on city