A
weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the
past week.
Monday
November 5, 2001 39th Edition
On the eve
of the Federal Election, Cairns has received a lot of very positive
news in the past week. Virgin Blue has finally announced that flights
will commence into Cairns within weeks, rival QANTAS is closer to
making an announcement regarding using Cairns as a major hub for
their new discount arm, Australian Airlines and the Federal Government
has provided funding to ensure the Cairns Esplanade Project can
continue to the next stages.
Cairns
gears up for Federal election
Cairns residents, along with over 12 million other Australians go
the polls this Saturday to determine whether current Prime Minister,
Mr John Howard, will stay in power or if the Leader of the Opposition,
Mr Kim Beasley, will take control. Whilst the election campaign
started with the existing Collation Government in a very strong
position, the gap has rapidly closed in what is now being described
as a cliff-hanger election that is too tight to call.
Media
Award for Web Designer
Andrew Burman, of Cairns Connect Pty Ltd, has been named the winner
of the 2001 North Queensland Media Awards Best Web Site Design category
for the design of Tropos Nightclub web site (www.troposnightclub.com).
Andrew is a leading web designer in North Queensland and his company
has completed many high profile web development projects both nationally
and internationally. Including the development of web sites for
DMG Radio Australia (www.hotfm.com.au
and www.starfm.net.au), and
Cairns Connect.
The award has
reinforced the fact that Cairns is providing professional services
to compete on a national and international level. For More information
on the services Andrew's company, Andromeda Interactive provides,
check out www.andromeda.net.au
Virgin
announces flights to Cairns to start in within weeks
The long awaited announcement that Virgin Blue Airlines will start
flights into Cairns has finally been made. The news has been greeted
with enthusiasm from all business sectors in Cairns. Virgin Blue
released the news that the company would start daily flights between
Cairns and Brisbane on the 27th of November. It is expected that
the one daily flight would be increased to three flights within
months. The introduction of Virgin Blue to the Cairns sector will
provide over 1000 extra seats per week, particularly targeted at
the budget traveller market.
Federal
Government to fund next stage of Esplanade Project
In a pre-election promise the Federal Government has announced that
it will provide funding to the tune of $9 million for the next stage
of the Cairns Esplanade Redevelopment Project. This ensures that
the project will continue to move forward at the planned rate. Funding
for the project had been uncertain and the announcement by the Federal
Government has been well received.
As the project
starts to take shape excitement is building in anticipation of the
finished project. The Esplanade Redevelopment will see a large landscaped
garden on the Cairns foreshore with a swimming lagoon, boardwalks,
picnic areas and general recreation facilities.
Expectation
builds regarding QANTAS announcement
The Cairns business community is expecting QANTAS to make an announcement
regarding the new Australian Airlines in the next few weeks. General
discussions have indicated that the new discount airline could provide
up to 50 international flights per week for Cairns. QANTAS is expected
to make an announcement regarding using Cairns as a hub for the
airlines in early December.
Property
sales on the increase
House and unit sales in Cairns have reached their highest levels
in more than a year. Herriots property valuers stated that Cairns
was following a trend set in South East Queensland earlier this
year. This trend included rising property values and general sales
activity. The Real Estate industry in Cairns has been faced with
an oversupply of properties for the past five to six years and based
on industry sources it appears that this oversupply is now drying
up. This is supported by the announcement of a number of major residential
property developments commencing in the near future.
Australia
voted the second safest holiday destination
Australia has been voted the second safest holiday destination by
British Travel Magazine "Wanderlust". New Zealand has taken the
top position as the safest destination in the world. The Australian
Tourist Commission European Director, Mr Andrew Richards, said that
"Australia was universally regarded as safe". "Wanderlust" magazine
has 35,000 readers, mostly adventure travellers.
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