Jetstar has announced the launch of multilingual 'Welcome Maps' designed to assist international visitors during their time in Australia while promoting local businesses to arriving passengers.

The maps will be handed out to Jetstar international passengers during their flight to their Australian destination, and contain locally used words translated in English, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Brazilian, Filipino and Arabic.

The maps are destination based providing "geo-marketing" for each Australian major city including Cairns.

Multilingual Welcome Maps Director Matthew Simons said he hoped the maps would assist to support local businesses and drive tourism.

“We are sure these maps will prove to be a valuable tool for arriving tourists. The maps will showcase the best of each major Australian destination and will be available to tourists in their own language.

“In turn we expect to see a real benefit for the involved local businesses and tourism in each area,” Mr Simons said.