Last week's announcement that China Southern would be joining China Eastern in offering flights to Cairns from December has raised the question 'are we ready?"

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Brown, said the new services present a major opportunity for the region's businesses.

"Both will have an enormous impact on our tourism industry and regional economy as they connect the Chinese market directly with the Great Barrier Reef and the many other attractions on offer here...” Mr Brown said.

“We continue to make preparations at Cairns Airport to ensure we are China ready and encourage the region’s tourism industry and businesses to also embrace this opportunity.”

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Tourism Tropical North Queensland board member Ron Livingstone said there is much work to be done to meet the expectations of Chinese visitors.

"When you think about it there is an enormous amount of preparation work to be done. Signage is very important, particularly if we're going to have a self-drive element to the market, which is good for dispersal.

"I think, personally, we'll need some fairly significant developments to happen in this marketplace to provide higher standards."

Mr Livingstone said it was not the job of TTNQ to provide businesses support to become 'China ready' but pointed to organisations such as the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce and Advance Cairns to take a lead role.

"It's for them to source contacts and to work with State Government representatives on feeding that information through to their membership."

Despite the tough economic climate in Queensland, Mr Livingstone has been given an assurance from the Minister for Tourism, Jann Stuckey, that the State Government would consider funding projects aimed at delivering a better experience for Chinese visitors.