Queensland Tourism promoting Cairns and Great Barrier Reef to Chinese visitors

Chinese tourists enjoy Cairns & Great Barrier Reef

Cairns & Queensland Tourism did not benefit nearly as much as expected from the Oprah Winfrey Australia extravaganza (though it doubtless did help Australian tourism more broadly.  The reality is Cairns tourist industry has historically benefitted most from asian (mostly Japanese) tourism and in the 21st century this trend is set to continue and accelerate, with the rise of the Chinese and Indian middle classes and their desire to see the wonders of  Australia like the Great Barrier Reef & Cairns, Queensland.

This is all great news for Queensland Tourism and Cairns Accommodation, tour operators and the thousands of affiliated businesses which rely on toursim in Cairns.

Read more about Cairns news, Cairns travel, Cairns accommodation and the Great Barrier Reef

Read more coverage of the Chinese tourism push at the Australian newspaper http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/chinas-stars-lure-tourists-to-que...

Excerpt below:

China's canto-pop stars to lure tourists to Queensland

by Kate Midena, from news.com.au

Tourism Queensland hope Chinese pop duo, Twins, can help boost the state. Picture: AP Source: AP

FORGET Oprah and Prince William - Chinese pop stars 'Twins' are the new faces of Queensland's latest celebrity tourism pitch.

Officials hope the canto-pop duo, featuring Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung, will lure some of their five million-strong Chinese fans to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. 

The move comes after Cairns tourism identities and billionaire James Packer derided the Oprah Down Under extravaganza as missing Australia's fastest growing tourism market - middle-class Chinese visitors.

They urged officials to find Asian faces and celebrities more familiar to the popular consumer heartland in China to promote Australia.

The Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, Jan Jarratt, agrees, claiming that China presents "great potential" for Queensland’s tourism industry.

"China is Queensland’s fastest growing inbound market, and it is forecast that by 2014 over 255,000 Chinese will visit the state as part of their Australian adventures" she said.

"Already China is Queensland’s fourth largest international market, with the state welcoming 172,000 Chinese visitors in the year ending September 2010. Chinese visitors are also spending more on their visits...in the year ending September 2010 [they] spent $336 million, an increase of 25 percent on the previous year."

Tourism Queensland has already taken steps to increase the Chinese tourist potential, organising a "Queensland on Tour" trade mission in March to "increase visitor numbers and let China know Queensland has bounced back from the summer’s bad weather."

 

Read the full story about Cairns, Queensland, Chinese tourism at the Australian newspaper http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/chinas-stars-lure-tourists-to-que...