A weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the past week.

Monday February 25, 2002 54th Edition

With Queen Elizabeth II visiting Cairns this Friday, 1st March, the city is gearing up to welcome the Monarch in true Tropical North Queensland style. Congratulations go from the people of Cairns to the Australian Olympic team in Salt Lake.

Royal visit for later in the week
Queen Elizabeth II will be spending Friday in Cairns as part of a Queensland wide tour that finishes on the Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane) at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. During her visit to Cairns, Queen Elizabeth is expected to visit the Royal Flying Doctors headquarters and the Skyrail Cablecar. Specific details are yet to be confirmed due to security issues. A step by step review of the Queens visit will be featured in this column next week.

Local couple recognised as tourism leaders
Cairns couple Steve and Lynette Watt started a tour visiting the regions spectacular waterfalls and National Parks in 1997. Whilst the tour has been successful, literally from day one, the couple were recognised for providing exceptional service in the recent Cairns Tourism Association Annual Awards. The company, Northern Exposure, had been nominated as a leading tourism operator in 2001, but it was chosen as the winner against 11 other competitors in the finals.

Cruise ships continue to roll in
Cairns continues to enjoy an influx of cruise ships in February with a further five vessels visiting the city over the next five days. Over 3000 passengers and 1800 cruise ship crew will visit Cairns in February, a record for the City.

New recreational plans for Copperlode Dam
Just over 20 km from the City of Cairns is a large dam called Copperlode Dam. It feeds the Cities water and powers a hydroelectric plant. The dam is virtually fall to capacity and it as been for several years. Copperlode Dam is a popular recreational area with excellent BBQ and picnic facilities. Until now it has been a limited usage area with water sports and camping not allowed.

The Cairns City Council and Cairns Water are proposing reviewing the zoning of Copperlode Dam to allow limited water sports, camping and rainforest walks in and around the area. Copperlode dam has also been stocked with Barramundi making it a paradise for local fisherman. The plan to increase usage in the area is still in its preliminary stages however the initial concept has been welcomed by the general public.

Dive industry audit shows changes making impact
The Far North Queensland Diving Industry has performed well in a recent statewide survey. The survey was conducted by the Department of Industrial Relations with 59 audits completed, and 169 improvements notices were issued with a statewide average of 2.8 improvement notices per audit. The Far North Queensland Diving Industry had the lowest improvement notice to audit ration in the state at only 1.1 per audit.

Cairns Hotel nominated as a leader in the Conference Market
The Radisson Plaza Hotel in Cairns continues to lead the way as a major force in the tourism industry in Cairns. The waterfront Property has been awarded Top Ten Status in a recent Conference Venue Survey,
Commissioned by the National Business Bulletin and voted on by Conference Organisers and Meeting Planners around Australia. The award is a major achievement in the highly competitive conference and meetings market.

Conference Sales Manager for the Radisson Plaza Hotel at The Pier, Ms Lisieux Afeaki, stated "we have been rated number 8 throughout Australia for our facilities and our staff which is an impressive result when you think of the competition. The Radisson Plaza Hotel has always had a strong commitment to providing a professional conference facility in the North Queensland region and now the property is receiving the recognition for the hard work that has been done in the past".

Cairns turns on a good crowd for the Aussie Rules
Although Cairns is a strong Rugby League city, the local residents still come out in a force whenever there is a good Australian Rules Football game being held. On Friday night at Bundaberg Stadium the 2001 premiership winners, the Brisbane Lions defeated the Melbourne Demons, 80 to 71.

Taipans fall asleep in second half
The Cairns Taipans were winning by 20 points at half time in Saturday nights NBL clash, against the Melbourne Tigers. But in a very ordinary display, the Taipans ended up being trounced by 100 - 94 at the final whistle. Taipans Captain, Anthony Stewart, stated "the game got away from us in the second half".