The future of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree could be in jeopardy if Cairns Regional Council withdraws almost half a million dollars in annual funding from the local tourism body.

TPDD executive officer Doug Ryan said securing ongoing funding is the "single biggest challenge" the board faces in the next twelve months.

"If Cairns Regional Council continue, and we don't have deamalgamation, then they should continue the funding for our organisation," he said.

"I did a presentation to Council last week, before the full Council and the economic development guys on what we'd done. They were extremely pleased with the outcomes to date.

"My last slide was why they should continue funding."

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Mr Ryan said that last slide outlined the potential loss of media presence for the region he estimated to be worth over $20 million.

According to Mr Ryan, Regional Tourism Organisation Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) has not yet come out in support of funding for their smaller counterpart.

"They won't commit to that. They haven't in the past. They acknowledge the work we do and they say it's an important part of the overall marketing for the region.

"I think it would be quite interesting, if we were to lose our funding, the pressure we would then put on TTNQ to push our region.

"I sit on most of the strategic panels now and I'm the only one from our region.

"It's not an easy job because when you're nine to one down there, there are nine from Cairns being Cairns-centric."

In May this year, Mayor Bob Manning was non-committal on how local tourism bodies including TPDD and TTNQ would be funded in years to come.

"I can see it continuing into the future. When you say "in its current form" I don't know," Mayor Manning said.

"Should the council be involved in tourism marketing? Yes. Are we doing enough? Probably not."

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