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

Monday June 25, 2001 20th Edition

The annual tourism awards have been held in Cairns with the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway winning the major award, reinforcing the attraction's significance in Cairns. The Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas has finished an $8 million upgrade and the invention and development of a new flying boat have all made headlines in the past week.

"Space age flying ship" developed in Cairns
Cairns based company, Flightship Ground Effects, has developed a combination plane and boat to produce a craft that flies approximately 2 metres above the surface of any body of water at speeds of up 170 km/hr. The first craft, Flightship FS8, has been described as a revolution in water transport, capable of carrying up to 600 kilogrammes in freight or the equivalent in passengers, as well as two operating crew. The preliminary model is being tested on the waters off the coast of Cairns and the invention is expected to generate up to $13 million in revenue and employ 50 people in Cairns in the next year. Orders have been received for nine of the $1.5 million craft in the first 12 months and a further 20 vessels in the following year.

Skyrail wins another award as leading tourism attraction
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway has won the 2001 Tropical North Queensland Tourism Awards for the best major tourist attraction in Cairns. Other winners included:

Significant Regional Attraction - The Rainforest Habitat
Environmental Tourism - Wildscapes Safaris
Heritage and Cultural Tourism - Paronella Park
General Tourism Services - Cairns Party Hire
Meetings Industry Venue - Novotel Palm Cove
Meetings Industry Planner - NQ exhibitions
Tourism Retailing - DFS Galleria
Tour and Transport Operators (Major) - Big Cat Green Island Cruises
Tour and Transport Operators (11-25 employees) - Reef Magic Cruises
Tour and Transport Operators (1-10 employees) - Wilderness Challenge
Adventure Tourism - Deep Sea Divers Den
Tourism Association - Mission Beach Wet Tropics Visitor Information Centre
Tourism Marketing and Promotional Campaign - Paronella Park
Media - Living in Cairns
Industry Training - Cairns International Hotel
Tourism Restaurant - Red Ochre Grill
Tourism Development Project - Mareeba Wetlands
Tourism and Caravan Parks up to five star - Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort
Hosted Accommodation up to five star - Iskanda Park Farmstay
Accommodation up to three star - Cairns Central YHA
Unique Accommodation - Undara Experience
Accommodation - 3.3 - 4.5 star - Matson Resort Cairns
Accommodation - Five star - Cairns International Resort
Outstanding Contribution by an individual - Charles Woodward
Arts Tourism - The Chalet Rainforest Gallery
Most outstanding submission - Iskanda Park Farmstay

Sheraton Mirage upgrade includes a beachfront wedding Chapel
The Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas is considered one of the leading resorts in Australia. The completion of a recent $8 million, two year refurbishment project has seen all 294 rooms fully refurbished and fitted with unique features such as Sony Playstations. Premier rooms have also received larger televisions and internet access. The resort has added a new wedding venue to its already impressive list of features. The "Crystal Chapel on the Beach" is the only wedding venue of its kind that can truly claim to be on the beach stated Mr Greig , General Manager for The Sheraton Mirage. Considerable interest has already been shown in the Crystal Chapel, which is expected to prove very popular as a wedding venue for local residents and domestic and international tourists alike.

Interest in Gallery Director received from around the world
Cairns Regional Gallery has recently advertised for a new Gallery Director following the resignation of Alison Anne Boylan to take up the position of Director at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane. The position with the Cairns Regional Gallery has attracted considerable interest with applications being received from the USA, Britain and New Zealand. "Cairns Regional Gallery is recognised within the Australian Arts Industry as being an innovative and dynamic regional gallery" said Mr Davis, Chairman of the Gallery. "The standard of the applicants is very high and Gallery board will now look very closely at all applications before continuing through to the interview process" said Mr Crew.

Cairns businesses praised
The Australian Industry Group recently released the Industry of the Regions 2001 report, a document featuring the results of a survey conducted on 630 businesses in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Manufacturers in North Queensland are considered to be amongst the business leaders, particularly in the field of exporting. The report showed that the North Queensland coastal area exported almost 24% of all products produced, second only to the Albury Wodonga region on the New South Wales and Victoria border which exports 29% of all products produced. Most other areas exported far small proportions of products, generally less than 10%.

Leading Jazz Musician coming to Cairns
James Morrison is considered one of the leading jazz musicians in Australia. Mr Morrison will be performing in Cairns on Friday the 29th of June. Mr Morrison has recently returned from a European Tour which forms the basis for his North Queensland visit and the release of his new album, The European Sessions.

Cairns City Council increases funding to tourism promotional board
The Cairns City Council released their 2001/2002 budget last week, with one of the main winners being Tourism Tropical North Queensland, the main tourism promotional body in the region. Funding for TTNQ has been increased by $100,000 taking the total annual contribution to $375,000. The move has been welcomed by the tourism industry as a very positive step in increasing tourism to North Queensland.