Cairns Post: China Mulls Stronger Ties

Growing optimism is certainly evident within the local tourism industry in Cairns; Far North Queensland recently became the fastest growing region in Australia for Chinese travellers as a result of several major airlines commencing direct services. With rapid growth in visitors expected to continue throughout coming years the Chinese will place serious consideration into the establishment of a consulate in Cairns, just as the Japanese government did throughout the tourist boom in the 90's.

THE Chinese Government will consider establishing a consulate in Cairns after a call from business and tourism leaders.

The move comes as a second Chinese airline, China Southern, begins trial flights bringing travellers to the region tomorrow for the start of the Chinese New Year.

About 20,000 travellers are expected on the China Southern flights from Guangzhou as well as seven charters, China Eastern’s three-a-week services from Shanghai, Cathay Pacific’s daily flights from Hong Kong and on domestic flights from southern ports.

While a Canberra embassy spokeswoman said the Government believed its Brisbane-based consulate-general was capable of providing their citizens with consular assistance, it would be willing to discuss the suggestion.

“The consulate-general has provided effective consular protection and assistance to events involving Chinese citizens since the establishment (in Brisbane) and it is willing to further strengthen co-operation with the local authorities in Cairns in the future to provide Chinese citizens with a more convenient and timely consular assistance,” she said.

Advance Cairns chairman
Cam Charlton 

Advance Cairns chairman Cam Charlton said he was pleased with the response.

“They have left the door open… they haven’t said yes, they haven’t said no,” he said.

Mr Charlton said the embassy appeared to be watching developments in the Far North.

“Obviously they are keeping an eye on Cairns with the significant increase in the number of Chinese visitors,” he said.

Mr Charlton said the Japanese established a consulate in 1997 after their residents started flocking to the region in the 1980s and ‘90s.

A Cairns Chinese consulate would service the needs of their citizens as well as investment and business interests, he said.

Mr Charlton said a consulate would make the visa process easier for holidaymakers and business people travelling to China from Cairns.

It would also help “build and sustain” the direct flights by China Eastern and the soon-to-start trial services by China Southern, he said.

Mr Charlton said once Advance Cairns finalised its China Business Engagement and Investment Strategy it would meet Chinese consular officials in the next few months.

The Far North is the fastest-growing region in Australia for Chinese travellers with 110,000 a year, on target to reach 200,000 by 2015.

The Far North is the fastest-growing region in Australia for Chinese travellers with 110,000 a year, on target to reach 200,000 by 2015.

The Japanese have had a consulate in Cairns for 15 years, The British, Germans, Austrians, Swedish and Italians also have consular representatives based in the city.

Article printed in The Cairns Post – 29th January 2013

Peter Musso licensed real estate agent at Ray White Smithfield selling property in Cairns' beautiful northern beach suburbs including Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach, Caravonica, Kamerunga and surrounds.

China Boom Good for Far North's Economy

Just a quick post to update on a "hot topic" in the Far North at present - the recent introduction of direct flights from China. As someone on the ground speaking with buyers each day this topic comes up in every conversation involving the outlook for the local economy and property markets. And for good reason; the largest industry in Cairns is tourism with agriculture worth only half that in total gross domestic product. Needless to say when international conditions deteriorated post-GFC the economy in Cairns suffered - for better or worse, tourism is our life-blood.

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With further direct flights from China now confirmed by Cathay Pacific Airlines the extent to which Cairns is able to take advantage of this emerging international market is of increasing speculation. Without doubt there will be further news to come!

China boom is good fortune for Far North's tourism industry
Article printed by The Cairns Post 6th September 2012

THE number of Chinese travelling to the Far North is expected to double to nearly 190,000 a year within 12 months of three new services coming on stream from next month.

That’s the prediction of Cairns Airport chief executive officer Kevin Brown after Cathay Pacific Airlines yesterday announced changes to its arrival and departure times from Hong Kong to link to its flights from mainland China.

It comes as Chinese visitor numbers to the Far North continue to soar with the latest figures showing a 27 per cent jump on 2011 figures to 94,000 in the year ended June 30.

China Eastern flights arrive from Shanghai in October, China Southern flights from Guangzhou in December and the changes in Cathay’s daily schedule to connect with flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities are from November.

Mr Brown said he expected the 3500 seats a week to be full.

"Passenger numbers could double within a 12-month period."

"Passenger numbers could double within a 12-month period," he said.

Mr Brown said the airport would be working with key organisations such as Advance Cairns, the chamber of commerce, Tourism Tropical North Queensland, James Cook University and the convention centre to ensure the success of the trial flights, to make them permanent, increase the frequency and to enhance the Cathay services.

"It’s not just tourism, but business, corporate, education and academia travel as well," he said.

Cathay’s Queensland business development manager Howard Field said the airline’s changes were to ensure smooth connection to flights between Hong Kong and eight cities in China and to prevent overnight stays in Hong Kong.

"We expect Chinese numbers to grow by 25 per cent," he said.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Rob Giason said the flights meant the Far North was on target to reach 200,000 Chinese holidaymakers visiting the region by 2015. "But that could very well accelerate," he said.

Mr Giason said as well as the direct flights the industry expected to maintain the high numbers coming to Cairns from other cities such as Brisbane and Sydney.

According to Tourism Research Australia’s international visitor survey overall international visitors were down 6 per cent to 616,000 while spending was up $35 million to $800 million.

Cairns is the third most popular destination in Queensland for the Chinese after the Gold Coast (412,000, up 18 per cent) and Brisbane (109,000, up 35 per cent).

The survey also found the number of Japanese visitors was 87,000 (down 11 per cent), the UK 76,000 (18 per cent), the US 75,000 (down 1 per cent), NZ 44,000 (up 19 per cent) and Germany 41,000 (down 13 per cent).

Mr Brown said he treated the IVS figures, particularly Japan and Europe, with "a degree of caution".

"I don’t think they are as bad as that. I deal with actual passenger numbers not sample survey sizes," he said.

Mr Brown said he believed the Japanese figures were far better.

"I’ve been speaking to many tourism operators who have said they haven’t seen so many Japanese in a long time. It’s still a very strong market."

Peter Musso licensed real estate agent at Ray White Smithfield selling property in Cairns' beautiful northern beach suburbs including Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach, Caravonica, Kamerunga and surrounds.

China Eastern Airlines to start direct flights to Cairns

Earlier this year I posted an article published by The Age which highlighted the expectation of local tourism business leaders toward China providing the next boost to Far North Queensland's economy. The biggest hurdle to this was cited as the introduction of direct flights from the People's Republic... Now it's official!

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THE number of Chinese tourists travelling to the Far North is expected to soar with the first direct flights from the world's most populated country starting in less than three months.

More than 36,000 Chinese travellers will be able to fly non-stop from Shanghai to Cairns each year on the China Eastern Airlines flights three times a week with services beginning in October.

The flights, which The Cairns Post revealed last week, will inject an estimated $35 million a year into the economy.

Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls and Tourism Minister Jann Stuckey will meet China Eastern executives in Shanghai today.

Ms Stuckey will sign a co-operative letter of intent with the carrier’s marketing officer Dong Bo.

Mr Nicholls welcomed the announcement, saying the flights would bring more than 700 Chinese visitors to Cairns each week.

"The number of Chinese visitors to Queensland increased by 16 per cent in the 12 months to March this year, injecting $403 million into the Queensland economy," he said.

"Tourism is one of the four pillars of the Queensland economy and aviation access is vital to helping us achieve our target of doubling overnight visitor expenditure to $30 billion by 2020."

Ms Stuckey said the deal was struck using the Newman Government’s $8 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund.

"Today’s announcement is great news, not only for our north Queensland tourism operators who did it tough after cyclone Yasi, but also for the whole state," she said.

"These flights will reduce the time Chinese tourists have to spend in transit, enabling them to spend more time and money visiting the world-renowned Great Barrier Reef."

"China Eastern is one of China’s largest and most valued airlines and we welcome them to Queensland with open arms."

Mr Dong said the new route offered mainland Chinese new access to Australia.

"Cairns as a major city in north Queensland serves as a gateway to numerous tourist sites throughout the country," he said.

Cairns Airport chief executive officer Kevin Brown said the services would have an "enormous impact" on tourism.

"After several years of successfully operating Chinese New Year charter flights to Cairns from Shanghai, it’s very exciting that China Eastern is now introducing a scheduled service," he said.

"It will help strengthen Cairns’ position as the Asian gateway to Australia."

China is the region’s fastest growing source of holidaymakers, overtaking Japan in the year to March 31.

Article printed by The Cairns Post - 20th July 2012
Writer: Nick Dalton

Peter Musso licensed real estate agent at Ray White Cairns Beaches selling property in Cairns' beautiful northern beach suburbs including Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach, Caravonica and surrounds.

China Predicted to Provide the Next Boost to FNQ

An article printed by The Age this weekend provides a timely account for the economic environment experienced in Far North Queensland throughout the past 4 years following the first impacts of the Global Financial Crisis. It is not hard to understand why the business climate in the Far North has reacted to depressed international tourism conditions in the way that it has, tourism is the largest industry in Far North Queensland with its gross domestic product (GDP) historically worth double that of agriculture, the second largest industry.

Most interesting are the personal accounts provided toward the end of the article by Cairns locals who assert that pronounced fluctuations in economic growth is just something that Cairns is used to, and that they are confident that the emerging Chinese tourist market will provide The Far North with its next much needed “boost”.

Perfect storms lash one-time tourist mecca
The Age - May 19^th 2012

ALONG The Esplanade in Cairns, scores of tourism outlets tussle grimly for passing trade. ''Hello!'' cry attendants to passing strangers from the doorways of cafes and restaurants, their hopeful smiles fading as each potential dollar moves on.

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Tour companies and their agencies display racks of brochures for countless struggling attractions spread across far north Queensland, each one a survivor of the longest, most comprehensive slump ever to strike the region. At night, while coach operators vie for backpackers to take on pub crawls, restaurants with prices pared to the bone hire young women in short dresses to stand on the footpath spruiking their menus and feigning interest in the doings of tourists.

It's tough up here.

More than 400 small businesses and several large development companies have gone to the wall since the slump began to bite in 2006-07. Compounded by the closure of the Cairns-based Australian Airlines in 2007, as well as the GFC, the Asian financial crisis, the high Australian dollar and the natural disasters of 2010-11, the downturn became a locally focused recession affecting every aspect of the economy.

Tourism, which returned $2.6 billion across the region in 2005-06, is now down by about $300 million, and Cairns (population 160,000) has an unemployment rate of 9.8 per cent - among the nation's highest, and double the state average. Despite promising signs of a recovery led by Chinese tourists, the European, UK and US markets - once the bread and butter of local tourism - remain mired in their own economic woes.

''China is the only growing market at the moment,'' says Steve Davies (pictured), operations manager of Big Cat Green Island Cruises. ''Everything else is stagnant, shrinking, dead or going nowhere.''

Bigger businesses such as Davies' have hung on by cutting costs, reducing staff, delaying equipment upgrades and sharing boat space with rival operators on days when there aren't enough passengers to make two cruises viable. Other major companies have been forced to diversify, merge or chase government tenders.

But small retailers, the so-called ''mum and dad'' operators, have been left with nowhere to hide. For veteran publican Gayle Scowcroft the crunch came last month, when she was forced to call in a liquidator, cut her losses and close the doors of Cairns' historic 114-year-old Cape York Hotel. Scowcroft's six-year battle to make a go of it seems to bear testament to the reigning wisdom among local hardheads. (''Tourism in Cairns has changed forever,'' asserts one real estate agent. ''Forget sentiment; from now on only the lean and mean will survive.'')

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But the popular and easy-going ex-publican, while admitting she made mistakes, has a different take on the circumstances that left her ''on the bones of my bum'' and $100,000 in debt. ''The whole thing made me realise just how much our country is based on greed,'' says the one-time Toowoomba school teacher who, with her late husband, Doug, had operated three other pubs before she and her son Ben took over the Cape York in 2006.

By 2010, she says, three new supermarket-owned liquor outlets (two Dan Murphys and a First Choice) had opened in Cairns, and her drive-through bottle shop couldn't compete.

The worsening tourism slump, rising rents, electricity and insurance costs added to her dilemma.

''I saw the writing on the wall, but I was pigheaded and a bit proud and I just wouldn't give up,'' Scowcroft says.

''My landlord wouldn't negotiate on the rent … Then my insurance went from $16,000 to $30,000, and they demanded the whole lot or I'd be uninsured … that's when I knew I'd have to get out.'' Scowcroft says she will stay in Cairns and try to find other work - ''perhaps on the political side of things. I'd like to do something to help the place recover.''

Over the past few years the slump has also claimed three of Cairns' largest construction/development tycoons: one-time plumber Tom Hedley (whose Hedley Leisure and Gaming Property Fund was valued at $1.2 billion in 2008); Roy Lavis (whose CEC Group collapsed last year with debts of almost $135 million); and Glencorp and Glenwood Homes owner Udo Jattke, who shut down his 30-year-old business last year owing $30 million.

Gavin King, as a Cairns Post journalist, wrote about these closures being part of a domino effect triggered by the tourism slump. He is now the new Liberal National Party state member for Cairns (the first conservative elected to the seat in more than a century) and says locals had not realised how inexorably their fortunes were linked to tourism until the ''big three'' went under.

''In past slumps, like the pilots' strike [in 1989], and the lull after 9/11, the big operators were able to hang on with ancillary businesses,'' King told The Saturday Age. ''But this is much worse … these past four to six years have been a really prolonged period of pain. A lot of businesses are still on their knees. But there is an air of hope, particularly in the situation with China, and the push for Cairns to get direct [tourism] flights from that country.''

The Chinese market in Australia is potentially so big, tourism operators haven't enough adjectives for the wonders they believe it will unleash. But in Cairns - long vexed by the geographic isolation that separates it from major tourism air routes - the word they invariably use is ''salvation''.

The obstacle in establishing direct flights from China is that far north Queensland doesn't have the population to sustain return flights. But Gavin King, flush with an $8 million ''attracting aviation fund'' from the state government, reckons he willl make direct flights a reality within 12 months: ''The great example for how this could happen is Cathay Pacific, which has been bringing Chinese tourists to Cairns from Hong Kong for years, then returning with the bellies of their planes full of live local seafood. We're confident we can achieve the same thing with direct flights from China, returning with cargoes of seafood or agricultural products.''

Charles Woodward's CaPTA Group has been marketing its local tourist attractions in China since 1997. Raised on a cane farm in what is now part of Cairns' inner suburbs, Woodward was among a handful of entrepreneurs who helped open the region to international tourism. With Jim Wallace, founder and former owner of the Quicksilver Group (and now owner of Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises), and a few others, Woodward formed a ''marketing mafia'' and toured the world promoting his birthplace and the Great Barrier Reef.

He opened his famous RainForestStation Nature Park at Kuranda in 1976, since bolstered by other nature-based attractions, including the Cairns Wildlife Dome atop the Cairns Casino. ''Most of our tourists were domestic until the Cairns International Airport opened in 1984,'' Woodward says. ''After that, we had the real boom phase when all the airlines used to run into Cairns [which ended after the pilots' strike] … then the Christopher Skase white-shoe wankers phase. Next came the Japanese market boom in the early '90s, which is when Daikyo came into Cairns and developed a lot of the major hotel infrastructure.'' (With economic problems of their own, even before last year's earthquake/tsunami, the Japanese no longer have a corporate presence in far north Queensland.)

"...We're now heading into the Chinese phase... the moment we get direct flights, the Chinese market here will take off like it did in the Japanese boom..."

''We're now heading into the Chinese phase,'' he says confidently. ''The moment we get direct flights, the Chinese market here will take off like it did in the Japanese boom.''

Even without direct flights, 70,000 tourists from mainland China are visiting Cairns annually, mostly via Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. Thanks to his marketing legwork in China, 90 per cent of these arrivals dutifully turn up at RainForestStation. ''When they started coming about 12 years ago it was all government-sponsored tours, so a lot of them were factory managers and the like in Mao suits,'' he says. ''Now, as the country opens up, we're getting the whole range - from very sophisticated to very unsophisticated.''

Which sounds a bit like customer service in Cairns, where larger tourism operations are already schooling their staff in the nuances of being ''China-ready''.

View article source HERE

Peter Musso licensed real estate agent at Ray White Cairns Beaches selling property in Cairns' beautiful northern beach suburbs including Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach, Caravonica and surrounds.

Cairns Post Articles - Jetstar & Virgin Ramp Up Flights

Within the past week the Cairns Post has reported on two major developments concerning the largest industry in Far North Queensland - Tourism. In relative terms, Tourism produces double the annual revenue turnover of agriculture, the second largest industry in the Far North (let me know if you might like further information regarding Cairns' industries via the 'Contact' page).

On April 1 Jetstar plans to add four extra flights from Melbourne per week to their schedule and Virgin Australia have followed with the announcement that they will be adding six extra flights from Brisbane per week to their own schedule.

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Ten extra domestic flights per week have the potential to add up to 100,000 visitors to Cairns each year. It is important to understand what this number of added arrivals means to the region - the graph opposite shows the number of tourism arrivals in Cairns throughout the past 10 years.

The trend level for domestic tourism arrivals in Cairns currently sits at approximately 260,000 visitors per year. That means that the new flights planned by major airlines within the past week have the potential to increase this number by more than almost 140%.

International arrivals remain on an unpredictable trend caused by unstable global economic conditions and the high Australian dollar making Cairns and Far North Queensland an expensive destination. Any improvement in tourist numbers however, either domestic or international, will be welcomed by local businesses in particular hospitality, accommodation and tour service operators.

Cairns Post report of Jetstars additional flights on Jan 24:

Jetstar adds extra Cairns to Melbourne flights

LOW-cost carrier Jetstar has added four more flights a week from Melbourne with the potential to bring an extra 37,440 passengers a year into Cairns.

The airline said with the extra four A320 flights a week there would now be 25 services from Melbourne.

The new flights are due to start on April 1.

The route is one of the fastest growing in Australia.

Last year, Jetstar passengers spent an estimated $112 million in the Far North.

The increased flights come as Jetstar bases its 13th A320 aircraft in Victoria.

Jetstar Group chief executive officer Bruce Buchanan said the additional capacity was part of the airline’s commitment to affordable domestic and overseas travel.

Read full article here

Report of Virgin Australia’s additional flights on Jan 27:

Extra Cairns flights, potential for extra 100,000 visitors

VIRGIN Australia is adding six extra flights between Cairns and Brisbane each week with the potential to bring more than 56,000 additional travellers a year to the Far North.

It follows Jetstar’s decision earlier this week to increase its services from Melbourne by four weekly flights.

The additional flights by the two airlines add nearly 100,000 seats a year from the southern capitals.

The extra Virgin return flights, from February 13, will be every day except Saturday, arriving at 1.20pm and departing for Brisbane at 1.50pm.

It takes the total number of Virgin Australia flights between Brisbane and Cairns each week to 80. The route is the 10th busiest in Australia with nearly 100,000 passengers a year.

Virgin says demand has sparked the extra flights.

Virgin Australia alliances, network and yield group executive Merren McArthur said the additional flights were part of an accelerated capacity growth plan for major corporate, resources sector and leisure routes.

Read full article here

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Real estate agent selling property in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Jetstar Invests a Further $100m in Region

Low-cost carrier Jetstar has backed its confidence in Cairns by investing another $100 million in the destination with an extra 25 new weekly domestic flights, an extra 460,200 seats a year to Cairns.

With the reinstatement of services to western Japan, future direct flights to Auckland next year and more weekly services to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney earlier this year the airline has also revealed that it will be targeting flights to China.

They also come as Singapore Airlines subsidiary Tiger Airways starts daily late night flights between Cairns and Melbourne next month, Cathay Pacific adding daily flights to Hong Kong and QantasLink starting direct flights to Port Moresby.

The Cairns Post - 26th August 2010

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Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Property agent selling real estate in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Cairns Linked to Fast-Growing Taiwanese Tourism

Jetstar has announced it will operate a daily flight from Taipei to Osaka with connections to Cairns.

Airline communications head Simon Westaway said the connections had “great potential” for the Far North’s tourism industry. He said it would also make it easier for visitors from China to get to Cairns.

Taiwan is Australia’s 14th largest inbound market which grew 18 per cent last year, the second fastest among the top 20 inbound markets, with just under 100,000 visitors.

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New Daily Flights Between Cairns and Melbourne

Budget airline Tiger Airways will soon operate daily late-night/early-morning services between Melbourne and Cairns from $98 one way.

Proposed to commence in mid-September 2010, the airline has the capacity to bring more than 2,500 people to Cairns weekly.

Tiger Airways Australia commercial director Steve Burns said the decision was based on demand.

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Cairns Looking to be Main Base for Mine Workers

Planning has begun to help Cairns overtake Townsville as the second biggest fly-in, fly-out base for Australia's mining industry.

Local industry leaders met this week and identified up to 80 long to medium-term resource projects that could be supported from Cairns, which provided a beautiful environment and lifestyle for FIFO workers and their families.

Queensland Resources Council deputy chief executive Greg Lane said Cairns was in an ideal position to take advantage of expanding its FIFO base with billions of dollars of mining projects coming on line soon.

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