More money to market Tropical North Queensland

Published Friday, 06 September, 2019 at 05:03 PM

Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development and Minister for the Commonwealth Games
The Honourable Kate Jones

Member for Cairns Michael Healy has today announced the government will launch one of the largest marketing campaigns in Tropical North Queensland’s history with an $2 million in funding confirmed today.

Mr Healy said the extra funding – comprising $1 million from the State Government and $1 million from Cairns Regional Council – would be given to Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) to promote the region as the perfect next holiday destination.

“Tourism creates jobs, that’s why we’re focused on growing this industry which is critical to the livelihoods of many Cairns locals,” Mr Healy said.

“Due to the weather it’s been a challenging time for tourism operators over the last 18 months but we know things are looking up.

“The funding announced today will help to attract thousands more tourists to our region, supporting local businesses and local jobs.

“We’re also investing hundreds of millions of dollars on new tourism infrastructure – through the port and the convention centre to ensure sustained growth for this sector in Cairns into the future.”

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the funding committed today was as a result of a tourism industry roundtable held by the Minister and Member for Cairns Michael Healy in March this year.

“Michael Healy has lobbied relentlessly for more funding for tourism marketing in Cairns. Today is a testament to that hard work,” Ms Jones said.

“As home to the world’s oldest living rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, Tropical North Queensland is unlike anywhere else in the world.

“We want to share these experiences with as many Australians as possible because we know the value of tourism when it comes to generating millions for local businesses and creating jobs.

“Tourism is vital to Tropical North Queensland – supporting more than 25,000 jobs and contributing $2.8 billion to the economy – and we’re fully committed to helping the industry grow further and driving more visitors to the region.”

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said council was pleased to partner with TTNQ in the domestic market in addition to the work being done internationally.

“The domestic market is the Cairns region’s largest so it makes sense to target the high-value traveller sector of this market to grow our visitor economy,” he said. 

TTNQ CEO Pip Close said the additional funding would go towards one of the largest domestic campaigns ever undertaken by the marketing body.

“This is the second phase of a campaign launched in July to grow domestic visitation with the funding being used for a combination of a tactical campaign and brand awareness,” she said.

“This will help support the region’s brand work currently under way and build up to the launch in February 2020.”

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Media contact: Jack Harbour 0419 620 447