Quicksilver will open the twelfth Cairns and Great Barrier Reef specialist retail travel shop in Shenyang, China this week. Shenyang is the capital of the Liaoning Province and is the most prosperous province of North East China.

In 2005, a Quicksilver led group of tour operators launched the first branded shop with the theme of “Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef” in the Southern China city of Guangzhou with the aim of promoting Queensland’s world heritage locations of the Reef and Rainforest. 

Following the success of this launch, an expanded group joined forces and with assistance of Tourism Australia, Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Tourism Queensland and began a program to introduce further branded shops in key cities that have the potential to deliver business to our region. 

With an initial focus on southern China, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef shops were strategically placed in the cities of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wenzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.  

“It’s a fantastic achievement that a group of Cairns  operators have now collaboratively branded a dozen retails shops in China,” Tony Baker, Managing Director of the Quicksilver Group said.

The new Shenyang travel shop is located inside a large shopping mall with exposure to over 30,000 people per day. 

The branded “Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef Travel Shop” will bring together a range of quality Great Barrier Reef and Cairns land based touring products and accommodation to the people of Shenyang and surrounding regions. 

With temperatures dropping to minus 20 degrees in December, the lure of sunshine, reef and rainforest hues will entice and capture the booming Chinese tourism industry of which Cairns is set to capture a significant market.

“To grow this market we need to make sure  Cairns is visible and easy to book," Mr Baker said.

"Our aim is to work with Shenyang Overseas International Travel service to help grow  demand  to visit Cairns and ensure their customers have access to the best experiences from hotels to touring options. 

"We will also be  working closely with Shenyang Overseas International Travel Services to ensure their sales staff receive  professional and knowledgeable training about the products the group has to offer."

Nine local tourism operators and a representative from TTNQ will travel to China for the opening of the shop on 12 November. Representatives from TQ and TA in China will also join the celebrations.

Mr Baker expects the Douglas region to benefit from their work in the Chinese marktet.

"Initially the focus has been Cairns-centric, but a number of groups headed out on Quicksilver last Chinese New Year and stayed at Port Douglas hotels. It's an evolution," he said.