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Online searches for tropical holidays have spiked during a cold snap in Australia southern's states, but international tourists are competing for a limited number of flights into north Queensland.
Key points:
- Cooler weather and returning international visitors are creating a mid-year tourism boom in parts of North Queensland
- Expected occupancy rates in Port Douglas are averaging about 85 per cent over the coming four weeks
- Limited inbound flights remain a challenge for the recovering sector
Domestic visitation to North Queensland slowed in the first half of the year after a record-breaking 2022, with more Australians heading overseas.
However, forward bookings for the coming months and into the start of 2024 remain high.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said that was partly driven by the return of overseas visitors.
"We're somewhere around the halfway mark in our international recovery," he said.
Mr Olsen said the sector was working to lure overseas airlines such as Cathay Pacific and China Southern back to the state.
"We'd love to see the services back into Brisbane before the end of this calendar year and we're hoping to bring some services in [to Cairns] for Chinese New Year 2024," he said.
Inbound visitation to Australia from China was still more than 87 per cent below 2019 levels, according to the latest figures from Tourism Australia.
The CEO of Tourism and Events Queensland is currently on a mission to China, which was the nation's largest overseas market before the pandemic.
Airfares flying high
Tourism Port Douglas Daintree CEO Tara Bennett said more direct flights from Singapore would help drive down the cost of airfares for international arrivals.
"We're very beholden to aviation and at the moment there's a few blockages in terms of capacity," she said.
"While the figures are good for people coming into Australia, we probably still won't feel like we're in full recovery until midway through next year."
Ms Bennett said the return of backpackers had helped businesses in Port Douglas overcome the staff shortages they faced during last year's domestic holiday boom.
However, labour remains a challenge for some operators in central Queensland, which is also experiencing a busy winter season.
"That's why the work visas along with holiday worker visas are so important," Mary Carroll from Capricornia's Enterprise, the organisation responsible for marketing the central Queensland region as a tourism destination, said.
"We do have a number of our local hospitality and tourism businesses sponsoring our overseas visitors to fill the gap."
Gulf left out
The situation is remarkably different at Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria, where business owners are experiencing one of their quietest dry seasons in decades.
"This time of year, even in the quieter years, the caravan parks were close to full," café and accommodation operator Yvonne Tunney said.
"We're now mid-season and there's a lot of gaps. I've really not seen it quite like this.
Ms Tunney put the trickle of visitors down to a "hangover of misconception and misinformation" that followed severe flooding over the summer.
She said many tourists were being deterred from travelling to Karumba due to incorrect information about road conditions and closures.
"But I also think after COVID, lots of people are now travelling overseas," she said.