A media release received yesterday from the office of Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Tourism and Jim Turnour Member for Leichhardt reports that the tropical North Queensland has outperformed the rest of Australia.

It has also increased its share of domestic overnight tourism expenditure to 4% at a time when spending has remained flat at a national level.

The Australian Government’s National Visitor Survey was released today, outlining the performance of domestic tourism for both the March quarter and the year ending March 2010.


Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP and Member for Leichhardt Jim Turnour MP both welcomed the findings which show solid growth in expenditure, visitors and length of stay in the region.

 
For the 12 months to March 2010, visitor numbers were up five per cent, and visitor nights grew by 25 per cent to 8.6 million. Domestic overnight visitor expenditure in Tropical North Queensland was $1.8 billion.

Visitors to the region spent an average of $1,185 per trip, the second highest spend among Australia's top 20 destinations. The average length of stay was 6 nights, higher than any other destination in the top 20.  

 
In comparison, national figures show that for the twelve months to March 2010, visitor nights declined one per cent, overnight trips were down three per cent, and visitor expenditure remained steady at $42.9 billion.

 
Minister Ferguson said: “This is great news for the local tourism industry. It shows businesses are working hard to adapt to the changing market. Domestic tourism makes up 75 percent of the industry and is less volatile than the international market, so it makes sense to include domestic tourism in the marketing mix. TTNQ Operators have done well in convincing Australians to holiday in Australia.

 
“Tourism Australia’s new ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ campaign and interactive travel planning site showcases almost 30,000 images and stories from everyday Australians. It not only appeals to our international markets but reminds all Australians about the pleasure of holidaying in places such as Tropical North Queensland.”

 
Jim Turnour said: “I congratulate the local tourism industry on these results.”

 
“It has been a tough 18 months for the Tropical North’s tourism industry, but there are positive signs emerging in the local economy.”

 
“I’ve been working hard to attract more flights to Cairns – we’re starting to see flights return both domestically and internationally, and the Australian Government has also undertaken major aviation reform which will help to attract more international airlines to the region in the future.”

 
This support builds on the $6 million in support to the Tropical North after the June 2008 decision by Qantas to reduce airline services from Japan.

 
The latest results from the National Visitor Survey can be downloaded from their website.

Editors Comment: Whilst we would not doubt the figures issued from our Governement bodies, does it feel to you that tourism expenditure   is up 4%?

We would be very interested what business in town have to say, so have your say below!