Business View Oceania | February 2020

17 18 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2020 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2020 WELCOME TOURISTS! Growth in the tourism industr y in Cair ns has exceeded expectations. In that regard, a plethora of tourism- related development projects have recently been undertaken or commenced to enhance the landscape of the city and region as a destination. Those include: • Crystalbrook Collection’s $370m set of luxury hotels (Riley, Bailey and Flynn), adding nearly 900 higher standard rooms to the accommodation sector • Aspial Corporation’s proposed $550m Nova City development • Commencement of a $60m upgrade for Cairns Central shopping centre in the CBD • $55m upgrade for the Cairns Airport domestic terminal • $10m Regional Trade Distribution Centre (RTDC) – a state-of the-art 3400 square metre facility at Cairns International Airport will start in the second quarter of 2020 and take about 13 months • $11m Esplanade Central development • Spinal Life Australia’s $12m Healthy Living Centre, a first in Queensland • $176m expansion and refurbishment of the Cairns Convention Centre • $127m Cairns Shipping Development project (completed) to enable a much greater number of ships to enter Cairns harbour CA I RNS REGIONAL COUNC I L , QLD $3 million allocated this year and $13.5 million next year. Florence Street will be redeveloped to provide improved pedestrian connectivity from the CBD to the Cairns Performing Arts Centre and Munro Martin Parklands, with nearly $10 million allocated this year and $5 million in the next budget to complete the project. An additional $7.4 million will progress the much anticipated Northern Beaches Leisure Trail (from the CBD to Palm Cove) and join the Wangetti Trail extending Palm Cove to Port Douglas. Manning acknowledges, “We have a fair bit going on around town that’s underpinning our tourism industry and giving a lot of confidence. Where we are struggling is with a drop off of tourist numbers. Council is currently pursuing a sustainable tourism funding model for Cairns in the form of a tourist levy equal to the price of a cup of coffee (ex: an accommodation house charging $150 a night would generate a levy of $3.75 per night). This will generate in excess of $17 million per year which will go to the Regional Tourism Association as a huge marketing budget for our region.” Bitumen Spray Sealing / Asphalt Pavements Profiling / Road Maintenance Services (07) 4041 4350 Email: bitumen@fgf.com.au PO Box 6665, Unit 5, 2 James Street Cairns QLD 4870 Servicing Cairns & the Far North QLD regions Bike Path - Clifton Beach Foreshore