18 MARCH: Cairns Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at this event. Please see below:

I’d like to start by acknowledging the significant effort and support from the Cairns community and tourism industry as we have wrapped up public consultation for the 20-year tourism plan Destination 2045: Queensland’s Tourism Future.

The valuable insights and perspectives shared by industry and community members in Cairns and across Queensland have been greatly appreciated and will be integral in our next steps of formulating the 20-year tourism plan.

We sought feedback on six key driving forces and focus areas for tourism in Queensland: Ecotourism, the 2032 Games Legacy, Investment Attraction, Tourism Experience Development, Events Delivery, and Access and Connectivity.

Throughout this process, diverse perspectives were gathered, and more than 1444 community members attended our regional workshops throughout Queensland.

Connecting with our industry experts, 127 participants attended our six deep dive sessions.

More than 700 individuals and organisations responded to our online survey or provided submissions addressing specific questions.

This feedback is now being used to inform a tourism plan designed to drive growth and prosperity over the next two decades, from now to 2045 — unlocking the potential of ecotourism responsibly and sustainably while fully leveraging the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games for all of Queensland.

The finalised Destination 2045 plan, along with a consultation report, will be released in June 2025.

Tourism remains a critical component of the economic landscape in Cairns.

In the year ending September 2024, the Cairns region generated $4.2 billion in visitation expenditure with over $14.76 million nights and $2.6 million visitors.

I commend the industry and community here for their resilience across two recent disaster events – ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper in 2023-2024 and the North Queensland Monsoon event earlier this year.

Unfortunately, recovering from extreme weather events isn’t a day or month-long clean-up effort; it often takes years to recover and rehabilitate the impacted areas, which can have detrimental impacts on tourism operators in the region.

But we are resilient up here – I have seen this region at its very best after a disaster and I know that the teamwork on the ground and across all levels of Government and key stakeholders has been extraordinary, including a range of Government support packages.

I want to highlight the recent announcement to back in the fact that Queensland is open for business.

All three major Australian airlines are launching airfare sales to Queensland destinations over the next four weeks, and Tourism and Events Queensland’s Too Great to Wait campaign is promoting holidays deals on Queensland.com. 

This major marketing activity follows the flood events in North Queensland and the impacts of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred on South East Queensland. 

Sale airfares will be rolled out in waves across different travel periods, including before and after the Easter long weekend, with Aussies urged to look out for bargains and be ready to nab their next Queensland holiday. 

This support is great news for the Far North which has incredible tourism experiences, framed by the iconic Great Barrier Reef and the World Heritage rainforest, ready for visitors to take their pick of amazing tourism experiences. 

I look forward to the ongoing growth of this industry and working with you all to ensure it thrives here in the North.