My electorate must surely be the tourism capital of Queensland.
We just proved it at the Queensland Tourism Awards earlier this month, when businesses from Leichhardt took out nearly 1-in-6 of the 80-plus awards of the night.
Particular congratulations go to the Cairns Central YHA and Cairns Convention Centre. They both won gold awards for the third year in a row and were inducted into the Queensland Tourism Awards Hall of Fame!
Gold also went to the teams at: The Daintree Discovery Centre at Cow Bay for best Tourist attraction; Reef Magic Cruises in Cairns for best major tour and transport operator; Ocean Safari at Cape Tribulation for best tour and transport operator; Seawalker at Green Island for best adventure tourism; Cape Tribulation Beach House Resort for best standard accommodation; and Tjapukai Indigenous Experience in Cairns for best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism.
Silver awards were presented to: Cairns Amateurs Carnival which is held every year in September; Mossman Gorge Centre; Ochre Restaurant and Catering in Cairns; Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort; and
Pullman Hotel Reef Casino in Cairns.
Meanwhile, the Kuranda Scenic Rail – a historic steam train that winds its way through the rainforest from Cairns to Kuranda – took home a Bronze award.
Winning these awards is an outstanding effort, and shows these businesses continue to punch above their weight in Queensland’s $23-billion tourism industry.
So, with the 2015 parliamentary year ending shortly, now’s the perfect time to come up and visit Far North Queensland… to see for yourself why we’re a true holiday mecca.
