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

Monday October 29, 2001 38th Edition

The Cairns tourism industry is waiting in anticipation of an announcement by QANTAS that their new budget carrier, Australia Airlines, will use the city as a major base and hub. In light of the ANSETT collapse and expected downturns in international tourist arrivals an announcement of this nature would be extremely good news.

Key indications that QANTAS will use Cairns as major hub
QANTAS Airlines has continued to fuel rumours that it will use Cairns as a major hub when it introduces the new low cost product, branded as Australian Airlines.

The new division of QANTAS is aiming to service routes throughout ASIA, specifically targeting the leisure traveller. The routes being proposed will also link with existing QANTAS routes from Europe and possibly North America. The new airline could introduce up to 20 international flights per week to Cairns. Whilst the details have yet to be officially announced there have been a number statements released by QANTAS indicating the Cairns would be hub for the Northern operations of Australian Airlines. The Cairns Port Authority, the body responsible for running the Cairns International Airport have stated that they will do whatever it takes to get the airline to use Cairns as a hub.

The tourism industry has developed an air of anticipation waiting for an official announcement from QANTAS.

Cairns Esplanade project takes shape
The initial development stages of the Cairns Esplanade Redevelopment project are well and truly underway with major works on the seawall progressing ahead of schedule. The seawall will form a boardwalk between the lagoon recreational area and parklands that will be the feature of the project. When completed the Cairns Esplanade is expected to be one of the main features of Cairns.

Daylight saving set to start but not in Cairns
Whilst the clocks are set back throughout the rest of Australia as daylight savings starts this weekend, the state of Queensland continues to resist the change. The main argument is that Queensland already has plenty of sunlight and there is no need to introduce daylight saving. This is an ongoing argument that appears to invoke strong emotions from all involved. In Cairns there is an average of 14 hours daylight per day, making daylight saving seem somewhat irrelevant.

Hong Kong Survivor show set in Cairns
A survivor-style television show filmed in Cairns has been aired in Hong Kong this week. The show, Wild Castaways, featured five couples undertaking various challenges throughout North Queensland including abseil cliffs, camping in the rainforest, jumping from waterfalls, getting close to dangerous saltwater crocodiles and camping on uninhabited islands. The shows are expected to provide a major boost to tourism from Hong Kong with a large number of bookings already received from a special promotion linked to the television series.

New leader at Tourism Tropical North Queensland
The regions main tourism body, Tourism Tropical North Queensland, has elected a new Chairman, Mr Cam Charlton. Mr Charlton has been involved in TTNQ and the promotion of the region for a number of years and his expertise and experience are welcome on the board. The response from the industry has been very positive with the focus of TTNQ to be diversified to attract other forms of tourism.