by Mat Churchill

Earlier this year the Chamber of Commerce invited Port Douglas businesses situated within the Marina and Macrossan Street to complete a survey, providing information to the Chamber on the state of business in the area.

The Chamber praised small business operators for their responses, but were disappointed that most of the large franchise outlets, tour operators and banks failed to return the survey.


In a statement from the Chamber they wrote "The business of Port Douglas is tourism. Gone are the days, when a business could simply rely upon the Port Douglas “name” or upon position in the main street or marina to mine the tourist trade. No business is isolated, or independent, from the larger external forces affecting other businesses in town and tourism in general."


The Chamber cited the need to gather information from local businesses as crucial to assist in identifying trends, rectifying any decline in tourist's perception of the area, and with developing future marketing campaigns.


Some of the key points to come out of the survey included:

- Rent paid by shop owners declined by approximately 5% in the past 12 months.

- Business confidence for 2010 is on par with 2009.

- The GFC had a direct impact on tourism, however operators expressed a high level of optimism for 2011.

In addition, 50% of businesses wanted more information on how Port Douglas was marketed, and noted a "perceived lack of marketing in the southern states".

Doug Ryan from Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree said their campaigns were targeting the markets identified in the survey results. "Our marketing reflects the priorities of business in the area."

"Couples and families were the main focus for business and we know that 60% of the market in resorts are families. This is mainly due to the cheaper flights available over the last three years."

"Our marketing is skewed towards the domestic market, particularly Melbourne and Sydney. We have also recently run a $600,000 campaign in shopping centres around Australia where we gave away 220 holidays to Port Douglas, we ran 650 advertisements on TV and newspapers in capital cities, and distributed 600,000 postcards of Port Douglas."


Local businesses also identified the need to better understand the role of the region's tourism bodies. In response, Mr Ryan said "We send out a members newsletter every two weeks, have a supplement in the Gazette once a month, and invite anyone who wants more information to come in and see us."

Another major concern for most shop owners is the overall appearance of Port Douglas, including the state of the footpaths, the lack of rubbish bins, general cleanliness, and the poor condition of the landscaping in the streets.