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

Monday December 3, 2001 43rd Edition

Cairns has been inundated with the largest Korean tour group on record this week with members of the Korean Amway convention arriving in the City. This is on the back of the inaugural Virgin flights beginning in Cairns. Overall, a very good week for Cairns.

Korean Amway Convention descends on Cairns
The first wave of the almost 6,000 expected delegate from Amway in Korea have begun arriving in Cairns for an annual conference. In what is the largest conference of its size, initial reports indicate that all operational arrangements have been running smoothly. There are four groups in total, all visiting Cairns during the next three weeks.

Inaugural Virgin flight lands in Cairns to a host celebrations
Virgin airlines made their inaugural flight to Cairns last Thursday, 29th of November. The first flight was met with considerable fanfare and celebration with passengers treated to a champagne and seafood buffet upon arrival, courtesy of The Pier Marketplace. Virgin is flying into Cairns daily with the number of flights expected to increase to two per day in mid December.

A taste of American Pie for Cairns
The two stars of American Pie and American Pie 2, Seann William Scott and Jason Biggs spent time out of the promotional tour to visit Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Whilst in Cairns the two stars attended the Australian premier of their new movie, American Pie 2.

Christmas retail rush begins
Cairns retailers have expressed a degree of relief that the Christmas rush has begun early. Local shoppers hit the major centres last weekend with the larger department stores reporting significant increases in sales this year compared to last year. Like many other cities around the world, Cairns shoppers tend to leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute.

Cairns attracts another major conference
Cairns has managed to outbid other destinations as the host of the 2002 SKAL International Convention, planned for November next year. The convention is expected to have a significant economic impact on the Cairns economy with over 1000 delegates and their partners expected to attend.

Plans for a combined domestic and international airport terminal closer
The Cairns Port Authority has been developing the concept of a combined domestic and international terminal for a number of years. The CPA have argued that the innovative concept is far more cost effective, enabling reduced charges for airlines using the city. Studies to that have shown a positive response to the overall concept. One of the main arguments for the integrated terminal is that it provides much more potential for expansion. With tourist number to Cairns expected to grow from approximately 2 million per year to 5 million per year in the next ten years this is a major consideration.

A tough week for the Cairns Taipans
The Taipans went down to the Sydney Kings 129-110 on Saturday night, which was the fifth consecutive loss for the team. On Thursday night the Taipans stayed close to the action but could not manage a victory over the Melbourne Tigers, finally going down 90-80. The highlight of the basketball week was the appearance of Andrew Gaze in the game against the Melbourne Tigers. The Cairns Taipans have a three-week break to regroup and try to find some form.