By Thirzah White

There’s definitely a buzz about town at the moment, can you feel it too? School holidays tend to bring visitors to this end of the world, but in the last year there have been more, lots more.

Visitor numbers to Port Douglas and the Daintree are up by 8.4%, so how many people does that equate to? A staggering 142,334 extra people chose to spend their holiday here, with a total of 421,000 visitors during the last financial year.

The Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree (TPDD) says these are the best figures the area has seen in eight years.

Domestic visitors made up the biggest group choosing the area as their holiday destination. International visitor numbers also increased by 7,000.

This is great news for local business, the total amount spent by visitors within the area was $526 million in the past twelve months.

“The best part about it is a large portion of these new visitors are likely to come back for another holiday and they are also great advocates for the region when they return home to share their wonderful holiday experiences with friends and family,” Said Douglas Shire Mayor, Julia Leu.

Tara Bennett from the TPDD said that feedback received from the operators noted a steady flow of bookings during this time and well into October.

“Port Douglas and Daintree has always been a very attractive destination for international travellers and we definitely expect this to change as the dollar continues to fall and Australia becomes a much more affordable destination,” Ms Bennett added.