by Mat Churchill

Despite Government statistics showing an increase in both arrivals and departures in Australia, the Tourism and Transport Forum has described the industry as "two-speed."

Evan Hall, TTF's national policy director told Travel Today that it was regional areas, including Cairns, that were continuing to struggle.

“There’s anecdotal evidence of a two-speed tourism economy, with city hotels doing well, thanks to a good recovery in business travel and conference and convention delegates, but leisure operators in other destinations like Tasmania and Cairns, missing out,” he said.

Despite the comments, Cairns Airport figures looked healthy, and somewhat surprisingly it was the international arrivals that showed the strongest growth.

29,864 international guests arrived at the airport in September up from 22,961 on the previous year, an increase of 30%. Domestic arrivals also rose to 148,739, up from 136,975 last year.

Cairns Airport's Helen Laird said the increase in international arrivals can be attributed to the influx of new flights.

"Pacific Blue have introduced flights direct from Auckland, and flights from Osaka have been reinstated," she said and added there are more new services to come.

"Jetstar are introducing an Auckland service, and Cathay's Hong Kong flights will be daily as of this month (up from six days per week)."