EFTPOS now available at Daintree Ferry
EFTPOS now available at Daintree Ferry
Thursday August 7 2014, 11:13am
EFTPOS services are now available at the Daintree River Ferry after years of lobbying by Daintree Marketing Cooperative.
The installation of the service, which is available from 8:30am to 5pm, was announced by Douglas Shire Council on Wednesday after a general meeting on Tuesday.
Daintree Marketing Cooperative chair Gaye Scott said it was an important step forward for the service and would be an economic benefit to businesses in Cape Tribulation and other communities north of the Daintree River.
“Daintree Marketing Cooperative has really been pushing for this for the last few years - we originally raised it with the Cairns Regional Council and we’ve been working with the Douglas Shire Council, Mayor Julia Leu and the CEO for a while now,” Ms Scott said.
“What’s happened in the past is people trying to cross the ferry will queue up, get to the booth and realize they don’t have any cash, so they would double back to the Crossroads Cafe to get some.
“Unfortunately the Crossroads Cafe has now closed its doors so people are now having to drive all the way back to the Wonga service station then back to the ferry - it holds up tours and impacts on their experience.”
Ms Scott also said that travellers that took cash with them across the river instead of using it for the ferry were more likely to spend it in shops, something Mason’s Cafe owner Lawrence Mason agreed with.
“Most of the businesses up here already have EFTPOS but we do see people being more likely to spend the cash if they’ve got it in their wallet,” he said.
“I think (installing EFTPOS at the ferry) is a fantastic bit of progress for the region and helps bring it into the modern world.
“I hear all the time how people have to turn all the way back to Wonga and take forty minutes or an hour out of their time in Cape Trib just because they forgot to bring cash.”
What do you think? Is it about time the ferry got EFTPOS services or should everyone just remember to bring cash? Leave a comment below.
