Port Douglas named in top 10 safest towns in Australia
TOURISM
It has come as no surprise to Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chair Wendy Morris, that her hometown Port Douglas has been named the top safest city or town in Australia.
Leading global travel website thetravel.com, a vacation destination on the web which publishes a large mix of travel news, recently named Port Douglas among its Top 10 Safest Cities; and the Daintree Forest (eighth) and Great Barrier Reef (ninth) among the leading prettiest destinations in Australia.
“Port Douglas has long been a place where visitors and locals have been able to enjoy the evenings walking from restaurants to bars and resorts,” said Ms Morris.
“It’s a small enough town that the locals all know each other and are invested in making sure their community is welcoming to visitors.
“Apart from that, it’s one of the most beautiful little villages along the whole Queensland coast – there’s a great feel-good vibe and you’d have to ask yourself: what’s not to love about it?”
In their introduction to Port Douglas, The Travel says: “Ranked at #3 in the Australian Traveller magazine's list for 100 Best Towns in Australia, Port Douglas is a small coastal town in Queensland that is the perfect place to visit for island lovers.
“With blue waters and great, tropical weather all-year-round, Port Douglas is not only a popular tourist spot but also a getaway destination for many Australian residents too.
“The Great Barrier Reef is also accessible from Port Douglas, as well as Daintree - the world's oldest rainforest. If you are wanting to visit Australia for the tropical island vibe, Port Douglas should be at the top of your list.”
In responding to this assessment, Tara Bennett, Executive Officer, Tourism Port Douglas Daintree (TPDD), said the Port Douglas and Daintree region has long been known as a safe place for travellers to visit.
“This is an area of satisfaction we measure through our visitor surveying which consistently ranks ‘feeling safe and secure’ as the top rated service quality.
“In an increasingly uncertain world, being acknowledged as a leading ‘safe’ destination provides a valuable message to potential travellers,” she said.
The following table shows how Port Douglas and Daintree region shape up in service quality:
To obtain this information, Ms Bennett said respondents were asked to reflect on nine service quality aspects of their holiday in the Port Douglas and Daintree region, using a scale of 1 (‘very dissatisfied’) to 5 (‘highly satisfied’).
“The above table provides a summary of the mean values. Feeling safe and secure was the top-rated service quality with both domestic (4.60) and international (4.58) respondents and overall (4.58).
“Staff service quality was rated second in overall and for both domestic and international respondents. Standard of restaurants rated highly overall and for domestic respondents, while the third most highly rated service for international respondents was value for money tours.”
Douglas Shire Council Mayor Julia Leu welcomed the announcement giving credit to the warm hospitality visitors receive from locals when travelling throughout the Shire.
“Hundreds of thousands of people visit our region each year and it’s important they feel safe, welcome and free to explore the Shire so it’s great to see Port Douglas recognised as Australia’s safest city,” she said.
“A quick trip to the markets on a Sunday morning or a wander down Macrossan Street in the evening and you’ll quickly see why people love coming here.
“Port Douglas is such a welcoming town with a strong community spirit – it’s a great place to live and we’re really glad visitors feel so welcome here.”
The Travel, who describe themselves as the best place in the world to get travel news, says of the Great Barrier Reef: “There’s not much more that needs to be said about the Great Barrier Reef, other than the fact that this glistening locale is Sir David Attenborough’s favourite place on the entire planet.
“Sadly, the largest coral reef system on our earth, which is designated a World Heritage Site, is quickly disappearing. However, there’s still an abundance to see, with incredible biodiversity and rich underwater ecosystems unlike anywhere else.”
It says the following about the Daintree: “While the world-famous Great Barrier Reef might take the majority of Far North Queensland’s spotlight, that doesn’t mean that it’s the be-all and end-all of miraculous natural attractions in the region... not for a second.
“Just an hour or so drive north from Cairns, the Daintree Rainforest (one of the world's three oldest tropical rainforests) is jam-packed with cascading waterfalls, rare Aussie wildlife, and a number of intimidating saltwater crocodiles.
“Visitors often tackle the Reef and the Daintree in the same trip, which makes perfect sense considering that they’re two of the nation’s most beautiful locales.”
Visit: https://www.thetravel.com/safest-cities-in-australia/
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