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

Monday December 24, 2001 46th Edition

As Cairns starts to shut down for the Christmas break, the City's retailers gear up for the busiest day of the year. Christmas Eve is always chaos in the shopping centres as local residents rush in for their last minute gifts and food supplies. The holiday season has started with very high temperatures, which should encourage many people to find a cool, shady spot by one of the many freshwater rivers in and around Cairns.

The entire team at Cairns Connect wish all of our site visitors the very best for a safe and prosperous Christmas and New Year break.

New Ansett could be flying to Cairns as soon as February
Following the introduction of Virgin Blue flights to Cairns, and QANTAS's announcement that Australian Airlines would include Cairns as a major hub in their proposed routes, a resurrected ANSETT could be flying to Cairns within a few months. A consortium of investors are expected to take control of ANSETT on or around January 31st, with flights expected to start soon after.

Gateway to the Great Barrier Reel label justified
Great Barrier Reef Cruise operators are continuing to take more people than ever on cruises to the Reefs and Islands off the Coast of Cairns and Port Douglas. Approximately 700,000 people visited the Great Barrier Reef in the last financial year, an overall increase of 4.9% on the previous year. Transport Minister, Steve Bredhauer said that Trade Statistics for Queensland Ports showed that Cairns was entrenching itself as one of Australia's busiest cruise ports.

Shopping Centres welcome consumer spree
Cairns major shopping centres are pleased to see consumers spending big in the build up to Christmas. In what has been an ordinary year for retailers, there was uncertainty about trading and consumer confidence over the crucial Christmas trading period. Many national retailers had pre-Christmas specials, which is believed to have helped in "kick starting" the retail rush.

Cairns' charities given full community support
Charities throughout Cairns have been inundated with offers of support for those in need during the festive season. In a rare turn of events the Salvation Army stated they had everything that they required to help the needy in Cairns. St Vincent's Community Services will be hosting a traditional Christmas Day Feast for 200 homeless.

Whilst support for local charities has come late, the last minute outpouring of offers of assistance has been inspirational. The Mayors Christmas Cheer appeal distributed 600 hampers on Friday and St Vincent's De Paul handing out another 150 hampers.

Resorts and hotels expect a Christmas boom
Cairns leading hotels and resorts have indicated that they expect strong bookings over the Christmas period with domestic travellers in particular choosing to holiday in Australia rather than going overseas. Christmas Day and New Year's Eve functions are virtually booked out, with many people looking for the easy and cooler alternative of having someone else to look after the cooking on the day.

Taipans bad luck streak continues
The Cairns Taipans basketball team continues to struggle, following a defeat to the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday night. Whilst the 97-85 score line does not show a crushing defeat, the Brisbane Bullets were playing with a heavily undermanned side. The loss on the weekend puts the Taipans at the bottom of the NBL ladder. Coach Guy Molloy is hoping to end the losing streak and turn the Taipans around in the coming weeks.

Luxury cruise ship visits Cairns
The cruise liner, Legend of the Seas, made a brief stopover in Cairns last week. The luxurious liner arrived in Cairns at 8.30am on Tuesday morning and departed at 10am the next day. Measuring over 264 metres the Legends of the Seas is one of the largest cruise liners to visit Cairns.