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Domestic overnight visitation to the Port Douglas Daintree region has grown by almost 7% in the 2017/18 financial year, according to figures from Tourism Research Australia (TRA).

 Tara Bennett, chief executive officer of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, said it was a great result that both the domestic and international markets were trending upwards.

 TRA figures showed overnight domestic stays increased from 1.67 million for the year ending 2017 to 1.78 million in 2018. The average length of stay was 5.3 nights.

 International overnight stays increased to 6.5 nights, bringing a combined total for both domestic and international visitors to 691,000.

 “Despite strong competition from international markets with aggressively priced airfare and holiday packages as well as capacity restriction into Cairns Airport in the domestic market, Port Douglas has continued to see growth,” Ms Bennet said.

 “This shows that despite the challenges our industry has faced in the last 12 months with adverse publicity surrounding coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, crocodiles, heavy rainfall and flooding, Port Douglas continues to be a sought-after destination for domestic holidays.

 “Our marketing activities have targeted the domestic traveller and specific international source markets as well as business events and destination weddings.

 “This year we focused on sourcing more cooperative marketing opportunities to provide subsidised campaigns for members and increase the region’s direct to consumer reach.

 “This has helped us achieve marketing outcomes well beyond our budget and organisation’s small size.”

Ms Bennett said the organisation’s key priorities were destination marketing and promotion, leadership in the digital space, research and opportunity analysis, stakeholder liaison and collaboration and industry development.

Highlights from the year included new branding for the destination following research into the perceptions of the destination and key positioning points.

A new consumer website with fresh content to help drive TPDD’s push into the direct consumer market as well as winning the QLD Multi Media Awards for its annual publication Discover Paradise and digital campaign Show Me Your Paradise.

Other activity included two fully hosted media famils during the year generating over $1.1 million in domestic publicity for the destination, strong growth in the digital space with a 30% plus increase on Instagram and Twitter and 12% on Facebook.

“TPDD continued to engage with both domestic and international trade through traditional distribution channels, assisting with training opportunities and itinerary development.”

“In 2018/19 TPDD will work collaboratively with stakeholders to position the destination as a leading sustainable tourism industry harnessing the bounty of two World Heritage Listed areas.”

Ben Woodward was appointed TPDD chair at last week’s AGM, with Megan Bell taking on the vice chair role. Sheena Walshaw and Jana Stankovich were also appointed.