RHYS THOMAS
INTERNATIONAL tourism is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in just a few years after visitation from Japan jumped from 30 per cent in February to 70 per cent in August.
Making sure destinations like Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef compete with other international holiday destinations is one of the key challenges currently facing the local tourism industry however, Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen is confident that international travel numbers will return.
Mr Olsen has already seen great results with Japan, China and domestic travel as Australians continue to travel their own country.
“About half of our international numbers are back and they are ticking up month on month,” he said.
“Take Japan for example, back in February we were only sitting at about 30 per cent of our pre-pandemic numbers and that peaked at about 70 per cent in the month just gone.”
Mr Olsen just returned from a Cairns and Great Barrier Reef Media Showcase that took place at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo yesterday and said Cairns still ranks as one of the nation’s most visited places.
“Japan is one of our key markets pre-pandemic and at its peak in 2005, 245,000 visitors landed in Cairns, the most international visitors ever,” he said.
“We hosted a media showcase at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, 25 media outlets came along and we had plenty of engagement and there is a great optimism, particularly about the early part of 2024.
“Things like school graduations and the travel that comes from them through January, February and March are already showing really strong bookings for Cairns.”
Cairns’ largest inbound wholesaler out of Japan, HIS, lists Cairns as the fifth-most visited destination on their website of locations across the world.
“This just shows the strong connection Cairns has with Japan and we are looking forward to, with additional services, a really great growth opportunity over the next few years,” Mr Olsen said.
With the support of the Federal Government’s International Tourism Recovery Grant Program, the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, airlines and the Cairns Airport, Mr Olsen is hopeful that Cairns’ international visitation numbers will return to pre-pandemic levels earlier than predicted.
“At the moment the forecast is still into 2026 before international numbers are back again but it is our bold ambition to be back to international parity by 2025,” he said.
While there is still a major focus on the international market, Australia’s domestic travel market cannot be overlooked as school holidays begin.
“The domestic travellers are still loving Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef and considering the fact we are only half about halfway back with our international recovery domestic travel is booming,” Mr Olsen said.
“What we are seeing across the region are numbers similar to 2019 but not quite as strong as 2022, the benefit of these school holidays is that they are stretched out quite a bit more.
Mr Olsen said with Queensland and Victoria’s holidays ongoing and New South Wales and New Zealand soon to follow, even more visitors are expected to flock to the far north.
“There is no doubt that the economic pressure on Australians is really starting to bite in as is the outbound travel by Australians – I’ve just come back from Japan and the number of Australians travelling overseas is really strong,” Mr Olsen said.
Keep up with the latest news in Cairns and the Far North, and check out some of our top stories this week: High tea attendee wins sapphire surprise and Locals unhappy with state of Kuranda.
