28 March 08

NEWS - EVENTS - TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES - TTNQ APPLAUDS ACHEIVEMENTS - ON THE MOVE - SEEN IN THE MEDIA - GOOD NEWS STORIES

INDUSTRY NEWS

• Thirty-four local school students graduated with a Certificate III in Hospitality (Operations) from a program operated by Rydges Hotels & Resorts in Tropical North Queensland and the College of Australian Training.

• A spectacular scene awaited visitors to the Undara Volcanic National Park after recent rains. Not since 1991 had a large amount of water been seen flowing into the lava tubes in the Undara Volcanic National Park, 275km south west of Cairns in the Gulf Savannah.

• Regional Pacific Airlines have commenced flying new routes with the launch of new Mt Isa-Cairns-Townsville services and recently extending its weekly flights into Bamaga Airport from 6 – 8 services. 
  
• HS Vision Group has launched its own tourism accommodation brand Vision Hotels & Resorts which includes The Lakes Cairns Resort & Spa, Paradise Palms Resort & Country Club and Central Park Cairns.
  
• Skydive Cairns & Jump the Beach have added a new aircraft to their fleet, a Cessna Caravan valued at $1.2 million, which gives the company the ability to jump larger groups of up to eight tandems.
  
• Ochre Restaurant and Catering is the new name of what was previously Red Ochre Grill and the restaurant now carries its new branding.

• The Australian Tourist Publications publication Winter Getaways to Cairns and The Tropical North Queensland was circulated via 75,000 carefully targeted letterboxes in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane this month, encouraging recipients to take a winter holiday up here. This high quality magazine showcases the region with a generous display of current images and relevant editorial presenting the best possible reflections of Tropical North Queensland. TTNQ's Dion Eades worked with the ATP crew in producing this publication. 

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EVENTS

EARTH HOUR – MAKE A DIFFERENCE
At 8:00pm on March 29, the Cairns region is encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This small but powerful gesture will prove we all have the power to take action on climate change. From small beginnings as a Sydney based event in 2007, Earth Hour 2008 is a global movement! Visit www.earthhour.org for more information and to register for Earth Hour.

GOING GREEN – LEARN, DO & SAVE SEMINAR
2:00 – 4:30pm Thursday 3 April 2008, TTNQ Boardroom 51 The Esplanade
Kleinhardt Business Consultants offer this interactive workshop, resources and follow up support and information, specially tailored for small/medium Tropical North Queensland businesses via the federally funded Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program. Click here for full details.

TTNQ NETWORKING FUNCTION
5:30 – 7:00pm Monday 14 April 2008, Willie McBrides at Fig Tree Inn
TTNQ invites all members to come along to our second networking function for 2008 which will include the launch of the 2008 Tropical North Queensland Tourism Awards. There will also be Tourism Australia representatives attending ahead of their Market Briefings being held in Cairns on the following day (see item below). Click here for invitation.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA MARKET BRIEFINGS
9:00am – 2:00pm Tuesday 15 April 2008 Cairns International Hotel
Tourism Australia is presenting a series of tourism market briefings which will deliver the latest market intelligence on Australia's top tourism markets, changes in the marketplace and expectations for the next 12 months, in-market activities for 2008, analysis of issues and trends that affect international and domestic tourism as well Registration is essential. Visit www.tradeevents.australia.com

AICD DIRECTOR’S BRIEFING - MAXIMISING THE VALUE OF A BUSINESS
5:15pm - 8:00pm Monday 21 April Cairns International Hotel
This Australian Institute of Company Directors Director’s Briefing will focus on issues faced by directors and business owners in relation to ensuring their businesses have in place the right structure, mechanisms to protect key assets, plus an appropriate framework for growth and exit. Click here for more information. 

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TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

• Cairns based tour operator Tropic Wings has launched a new coach driving school to address the shortage of qualified coach drivers in the region. Courses commence in May and will run periodically throughout the year. For more information contact Tropic Wings on 4035 3555.
  

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OPPORTUNITIES

• Tropical North Queensland business operators have until 15 April to get their applications in for the 2008 Premier of Queensland's Smart Awards, offering $10,000 in cash to the seven category winners as well as $10,000 in flights from Qantas for the overall winner. Winners will be announced at a gala evening at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday 31 July 2008. For more  information visit www.smartawards.qld.gov.au
  
• QTIC is seeking expressions of interest for a new project, QTIC-Y (a Generation Y tourism network linking tourism students, employees, entrepreneurs and stakeholders.  The network has three main objectives:
  • Raising awareness of Generation Y priorities to wider industry, government and media
  • Networking within the Y community and the wider industry for job referrals, peer mentoring and training
  • Offering training and business development support for members as well as cost-effective consultancy for SMEs
  For more information visit www.qtic.com.au/qticy  or phone David Liddell on 3236 1445 or email david.liddell@qtic.com.au
  
• There are just a few spots still available for exhibitors at the TNQ TAFE Tourism & Hospitality Careers Expo.  Click here to find out more about this opportunity available at no cost. Forms to be returned by Friday 28 March.

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TTNQ APPLAUDS ACHIEVEMENTS

Congratulations to:

• Reef House Spa at the Sebel Reef House Palm Cove was voted the top spa in Queensland and #2 in the Australasian/South Pacific Region as part of the Global Spa Awards run by Conde’Nast Traveller Magazine.
• Australia’s number one golfing magazine, Australian Golf Digest has endorsed Paradise Palms Resort and Country Club in its biennial ranking with a place in its Top 100.
• Cathay Pacific won a swag of Awards at the recent Worldwide Airport Managers Conference including Best Customer Service Check-in, Best Customer Service Top Box Performance and Best Airport Performance 2007.
• Cairns-based Tropical Horizons Tours are now Ecotourism Certified and a Planet Safe Partner.
• German PR company News-Plus of which Tourism Queensland’s Kai Ostermann is a Managing Director, has been ranked at #3 in Germany by a panel of more than one hundred key travel writers from German newspapers, magazines and trade press.
• And finally a really, really big congratulations to all the tourism operators who so enthusiastically embraced the Leukemia Foundations’ Shave for a Cure fundraiser or came up with other ideas to support this worthy cause. Good on ya all, whether you shaved or gave.

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ON THE MOVE

• Virginia Edwards has returned to the role of Director of Sales for Great Barrier Reef Helicopter Group.

• After Guy Hutchinson’s promotion to Hilton Shanghai, Koos Klein, Area President Hilton Hotels – Asia Pacific, David Kelly has now taken up the role GM at the Hilton Cairns. Meanwhile Karin Vrieze-Tijs has been appointed as the hotel’s Revenue Manager.

• Ocean Hotels has recently announced the appointment of Stevie King as the Meeting & Groups Sales Manager, for Ocean Hotels. In this role Stevie represents Cape Tribulation Resort & Spa and Ferntree Rainforest Lodge at Cape Tribulation.

• Orpheus Island Resort has welcomed the return of Leanne Hall to the role of Sales & Marketing Manager.  

• Gemma Riches has been appointed Sales and Marketing Executive of Pro Dive Cairns, replacing Heidi Barnes who has joined Cairns Regional Council as Disaster Management Officer.

• Hamish Neale is the new Executive Chef at Shangri-la Hotel, The Marina, Cairns and Renee Newbold is their new MICE Market Business Development Executive.

• Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas announces the appointment of Sherrilyn Charles to the role of International Business Development Manager.

• Cairns Seaplanes has relocated to 1/3 Abbott Street, Cairns QLD, 4870

• Cairns businesswoman, Sim Hayward has been named as the Chair of the Queensland Government's Queensland China Council.

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SEEN IN THE MEDIA

• Queensland Weekender paid a visit to Undara Experience last year for the unique Opera in the Outback and the resulting segment went to air last month.
• An article on eco-tourism in the February edition of Qantas magazine The Australian Way featured industry leader Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa.
• Kuranda was the topic of a Daily Telegraph feature story last month.
• Cosmopolitan Bride ran a story on Tablelands treasure Allawah Retreat.
• The appeal of Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park as a place to experience a realistic portrait of Aboriginal culture and heritage was featured in a Danish film which promotes Australia as an exciting and adventurous tourist destination to Danish and European travellers.
• The Great Barrier Reef, Palm Cove, Wooroonooran National Park and various Tropical North Queensland tourism product featured in this New York Times travel article.

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GOOD NEWS STORIES

These responses from these visitors to Cairns Colonial Club Resort and a local group who enjoyed a trip with Pro Dive Cairns prove that good customer service makes the tropical moments we offer in our destination all the more memorable.

To all your friendly staff at Cairns Colonial Club Resort:  We had the pleasure of staying with you between Nov 14-18 and would like to thank you for making our stop over in Cairns a wonderful experience.  From the moment we checked in, taken to our room, service in your restaurant, pool side cafe, tour desk, souvenir shop, confirming flights, room service and I hope I didn't miss anything, your resort is definitely one we would like to come back to and will be recommending it to anyone visiting your fine city.  Thank you to everyone, waiter, waitresses, cooks, everyone at your resort were friendly and offered superb service. 
Thank you! 
Anna, Bruno, and Niko Cristante, Powell River, British Columbia, Canada.

Pro Dive
Just a short note to say thank-you for the terrific experience Pro Dive Cairns provided for our boys. 
It was obvious from their reactions that they gained greatly from their first dive experience.  Again, many thanks. 
It is because of the efforts of companies such as yours that allow the disadvantaged youth we work with to develop self confidence and social skills; areas that will help them cope in society.
Yours sincerely,
David Kirkpatrick (Teacher)
Flexible Learning Centre, Cairns

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