Qantas & Jetstar reduce capacity

[Platy]

I am suprised that for a city that is so dependent on tourism they have not formed stronger body to provide a stronger voice at government level and QF senior management level. They could have done so much more.

There are many factors at work here. Some include:

- an ineffectual representation for tourism by the previous Fed Gov
- a recently ousted Cairns Mayor who has let developers run riot, in many cases blatantly ignoring planning restrictions and the over-arching Cairns Plan
- over powering influence by just a handful of developers and operators looking after their own interests
- a less effective community representation by Advance Cairns than previously as CEOs have changed rapidly (the local advocacy body)
- a previous Fed MP who literally gave up a year out from the election knowing he was retiring and had a cushy consultancy lined up with one of the aforemetioned developers
- a new fed MP who appears still to be finding his feet, voice and balls
- selective rorting of the regional funding scheme to politically motivated rather than meritorious local projects under the last Fed Gov
- failure by all tiers of government to show leadership, instate vision etc
- Cairns Port Authority and local business leaders being all too willing to be sucked in by spin from Qantas who had assured the local community they were commited to the place

Yes there are other prevailing problems:

- high aussie dollar
- increasing choice of tourism product in Asia
- growth of airlines in Asia

Add to that, many Cairns businesses do themseles no favours by having inconsistent and lacklustre product assuming they can afford to cheat the tourists. For example, there are certain restaurants, which grand note themselves, which I refuse to eat at having had disastrous experiences (there are also very good ones IF you know where to go!).

Perhaps there is also a mixed message arising from just, which market(s) to promote (backpacker, family budget, upmarket, domestic vs internaional etc).

Also, a few years ago, a trip up to Cape Tribulation or a drive to Cooktown was quite an adventure - now with these roads sealed that quality of adventure through the Aussie bush is largely lost as a family hire car can tootle there and back in a few hours of easy driving.

In my own suburb (Trinity Beach) in the last year or so we have lost our best chef/restaurant, the caravan park has become a huddle of ugly town houses displacing remnant vegetation and wildlife, we have had to have one of the local mega-rich developers be legally forced to stop land clearing, another mega rich developer destroyed the historic pub and remaining beachfront queenslanders to create a huge seafront block of flats and a noisy ugly box of a tavern on the beach front. In the 6 years I have had a house here much of the local charm has been lost.

Yes, Cairns has lost its way and pehaps this whole Qantas saga will stir up some sense of community and collective responsibility.

 

[docjames]

I have to agree on this as this is my second time coming to Cairns and somehow this time I feel a bit bored staying at Cairns and Port Douglas .......

To some (myself included) that IS the main attraction vs the Gold Coast

 

[straitman]

To some (myself included) that IS the main attraction vs the Gold Coast

Touché

 

[turtlemichael]

I have to say that Platy's analysis of what is happening is most insightful.

The bottom line to me is that this area has the best tourist product of any location in Australia and one of the best in the World. The problems for the north will only be resolved by innovative and responsible marketing and management which builds on the attractions and understands and responds to the needs of the sort of tourist likely to want to come here.

The problems need much more than a mad rush to throw money at them and a frenzied effort to get a carrier, any carrier, to fly here.

 

[bambbbam2]

Don't forget the impact that local shonky tourism operators have. For years they have been ripping off the Japanese, now this has come home to roost.

Just unfortunate that good people are being caught out also.

 

[kamchatsky]

There are many factors at work here. Some include:

- an ineffectual representation for tourism by the previous Fed Gov
- a recently ousted Cairns Mayor who has let developers run riot, in many cases blatantly ignoring planning restrictions and the over-arching Cairns Plan
- over powering influence by just a handful of developers and operators looking after their own interests
- a less effective community representation by Advance Cairns than previously as CEOs have changed rapidly (the local advocacy body)
- a previous Fed MP who literally gave up a year out from the election knowing he was retiring and had a cushy consultancy lined up with one of the aforemetioned developers
- a new fed MP who appears still to be finding his feet, voice and balls
- selective rorting of the regional funding scheme to politically motivated rather than meritorious local projects under the last Fed Gov
- failure by all tiers of government to show leadership, instate vision etc
- Cairns Port Authority and local business leaders being all too willing to be sucked in by spin from Qantas who had assured the local community they were commited to the place

Yes there are other prevailing problems:

- high aussie dollar
- increasing choice of tourism product in Asia
- growth of airlines in Asia

Add to that, many Cairns businesses do themseles no favours by having inconsistent and lacklustre product assuming they can afford to cheat the tourists. For example, there are certain restaurants, which grand note themselves, which I refuse to eat at having had disastrous experiences (there are also very good ones IF you know where to go!).

Perhaps there is also a mixed message arising from just, which market(s) to promote (backpacker, family budget, upmarket, domestic vs internaional etc).

Also, a few years ago, a trip up to Cape Tribulation or a drive to Cooktown was quite an adventure - now with these roads sealed that quality of adventure through the Aussie bush is largely lost as a family hire car can tootle there and back in a few hours of easy driving.

In my own suburb (Trinity Beach) in the last year or so we have lost our best chef/restaurant, the caravan park has become a huddle of ugly town houses displacing remnant vegetation and wildlife, we have had to have one of the local mega-rich developers be legally forced to stop land clearing, another mega rich developer destroyed the historic pub and remaining beachfront queenslanders to create a huge seafront block of flats and a noisy ugly box of a tavern on the beach front. In the 6 years I have had a house here much of the local charm has been lost.

Yes, Cairns has lost its way and pehaps this whole Qantas saga will stir up some sense of community and collective responsibility.

A very insightful analysis indeed. Never knew it has so much history in it.

Yes I have noticed a lot more developments at Port Douglas, way too many in my opinion. A lot of apartments I noticed are empty and there are plenty of "For Sale" signs at all local real estate agents. They are also building a lot of apartments at Palm Cove ..... Just went to see The Village @ Palm Cove show displays ..... A 2 bedroom apartment starts at 665K ....... with just simple road view ......


I still think a lot of activities are way too expensive ..... Almost $200 for a trip to Outer Reefs ..... sure the service was very good but was it really worth $200? They must have earned a lot of money from this. I am also annoyed by the attitudes of a lot of "information centres" which are really travel agents. When I went to ask for a map, they just told me "Is that all you want?" and had that evil look that I am not even consider to buy things from them. Another person from another "information centres" with a bad look said "If you cannot afford this trip, please try others" even though I could afford it but just try to see if I can get some discounts ...... It is these kind of attitudes that really turns me off .... Another thing, they insist on asking me where I come from, even though I said Sydney .... I do look Asian so they must have think I am from Japan and try to rip me off .....


The local government better do some thing to fix their image ..... Otherwise they will really suffer a long decline .... Which would be sad for the locals.

 

[pauly7]

There are many factors at work here. Some include:




In my own suburb (Trinity Beach) in the last year or so we have lost our best chef/restaurant, the caravan park has become a huddle of ugly town houses displacing remnant vegetation and wildlife, we have had to have one of the local mega-rich developers be legally forced to stop land clearing, another mega rich developer destroyed the historic pub
.

Oh no I loved that pub! When did that happen? (haven't been to Trinity for a while)..

 

[serfty]

Oh no I loved that pub! When did that happen? (haven't been to Trinity for a while)..

Me too. :-| It was a regular stopover betwixt Palm Cove/Pt Douglas and the airport before and after the cyclone rearranged it in the late 90's.

 

[dajop]

QF is probably simply responding to supply and demand. The fact is the AUD strength is making tourism here less attractive than ever, and that includes CNS. However, wake up and smell the roses ... not too long ago I perused some QF/AN timetables from way back at the turn of the century, circa 2000, IIRC back then QF had 2 MEL-CNS services a week, matched by AN's 2 services a week. Total 4 per week in each direction. Do the same analysis today, and DJ have 15 direct flights per week in each direction, QF group some 18 direct flight. Therefore increased from 4 flights to 33 a week!! I'm not sure what the same analysis is from SYD or BNE, but too me the MEL-CNS increase seems pretty significant, and surely must be making a reasonable contribution to the economy.

 

[Keith009]

Thriving Cairns wedding industry looks set to break up | The Australian

THEY come in their thousands and spend millions, but Cairns wedding planners were yesterday coming to terms with the prospect of considerably fewer Japanese couples enjoying north Queensland nuptials.

The number of couples such as Tatsuya and Hiroko Ishii getting married in north Queensland is expected to halve in less than six months, following Qantas's decision to stop direct flights between Japan and Cairns.
...
Japanese marriages in Cairns peaked at about 2000 two years ago, but have been falling away since Jetstar began replacing Qantas services and fuel surcharges were introduced.
...

"There are a lot of rumours in the industry that the Japanese, particularly couples coming here to get married, don't like the service offered by Jetstar, and want to fly business class," Mr Ford said.

"The other thing is they are being hit with fuel surcharges of about $500 - that's more than they are charged to go to other destinations."

 

[Platy]

Me too. :-| It was a regular stopover betwixt Palm Cove/Pt Douglas and the airport before and after the cyclone rearranged it in the late 90's.

Yeah, I remember taking my mother there for lunch back in 1992 on her first visit to Australia from the UK.

It closed down a copuple of years ago. Now you can bring your cheque book and $750,000+ for a box-like apartment on the site.

The pub is now at lower road level on the Esplanade. It is one large shoe box - noisy, uninspiring. There is a bistro selling variations of extra fried fat. Even the couple of reasonably heathly menu options (eg. mediterreanean lamb cutlets with greek salad and pitta bread) have slipped from the menu. It always amuses me to watch the dirty fat tanker truck arrive early in the morning as I jog along the seafront!!!

Not only has the historic and tasteful aspect of the seafront been destroyed, but also this concrete heap of floor upon floor of units now dominates the seafront and skyline and is clearly visible from Yorkeys Knob (if you partake of a quiet cold ale at the Yacht Club).

This all thanks to the greed of one man, Tom Hedley, who not satisfied with his $400 million plus (sell out of numerous pubs to Coles) continues to clear large sites (like the ex-caravan park) for medium/high density housing with the apparent imprimateur of the former Council.

One block from the beach the monstrous Blue Lagoon development includes blocks of flats built way above height restrictions (again with Council's backing) and clearly is largely unsold judging on the lack of lights in units at night. A lovely lagoon and many trees (home to Jabirus and other wildlife) were bulldozed to make a man made lake which is so fetid (since the water flows have been mismanaged) hundreds of litres of blue chemical dye have to be poured in (with a blind eye turned by the EPA) and teams of workers have to shovel thick weed out periodically.

The headland, a the north end of Trinity Beach was bequeathed to the Church by the former owner, trusting insodoing that the land would remain undeveloped and unspoilt. Of course the Church subsequently, greedily sold the land to another rich local, who recently I had to report to the authorities for illegal land clearing - he had secretly hired work crews from Brisbane and they were enscounced in caravan hidden among trees on the site!!!

Towards Palm Cove greed has also seen one of the local golf course sliced up to make more room for development - many bought their homes believing they had a guaranteed aspect of the golf course!

In Clifton Beach a block of units was built a couple of storeys above height restrictions metres away from someone's house! We await to see if the new Council has the mettle to get the developers to bulldoze their illegal monstrosity. In Cairns planning permission is outsourced through paid agents and planning approval can be garnered literally in minutes!!!

With this sort of greed and insanity running rife and the former mayor and fed MP firmly in the pockets of the developers it is no wonder the place has lost its way as people have perceived the cash to be in development totally forgetting that is not sustainable and basic industry like tourism remains essential for long term survival!!!

Of course the intrinsic power wielded by different tiers of Government is limited in terms of fixing up such a mess once created.

 

[Mal]

Waa, Waa Waa. Poor Cairns tourism operators.

There are similar stories about Surfers Paradise tourism operators also feeling the heat.

Maybe some of the more shonky ones will go out of business (kickbacks, rip-off prices, charging certain tourists to walk on sand or advising that certain cities are 'dangerous' outside of the hotel), and the others may be shaken into reality.

 

[Platy]

Don't forget the impact that local shonky tourism operators have. For years they have been ripping off the Japanese, now this has come home to roost.

Correct. Many Japanese visitors have been herded into hotels, shops and tours owned and run by Japanese companies. In some cases business owners were slipping backhanders to tour companies/agents to ensure custom.

 

[Platy]

Maybe some of the more shonky ones will go out of business ... and the others may be shaken into reality.

Yes, you are right. But also remember in a community of this size the impact goes beyond the tour operators.

 

[serfty]

The difference (for me) betwixt CNS and OOL is that CNS is a place I would choose to visit (even now).

 

[kamchatsky]

Yes, you are right. But also remember in a community of this size the impact goes beyond the tour operators.

Maybe the local government should have done something to get rid of shonky operators at the first place. Usually it is the minority that ruins everyone else. Once reputation is tarnished it takes a lot of hard work to get it back. Think about it, it is already hard to get Japanese coming to Cairns (since Qantas have not been doing well in this area for years), even with the original QF schedule.

We still have Cathay Pacific and Air NZ flying into Cairns, the last thing you want is them pulling out of Cairns also.

 

[Platy]

Maybe the local government should have done something to get rid of shonky operators at the first place. Usually it is the minority that ruins everyone else. .

There was indeed something of a campaign against such practices a year or two ago.

(Realistically, it can be hard to deal with those sorts of situations...what legislation is being flouted and whose jurisdiction is that (Council, State,Federal?)...how are you going to get sufficient evidence for an actual conviction...are resources going to be assigned to such cases when enforcement agencies are flat out...)

Then there a situations where some suppliers simply don't give good, reliable consistent service (restaurants, tours, etc)...there is no law against that, although it may appear to be short-sighted business practice, it is rife.

 

[SFSC]

Sad to hear about the Trinity Beach pub. I had been looking forward to putting myself around a beer or two there when visiting the Cairns area next May to socialise with a group of drinkers with a running problem.

Haven't been there since 1978 so I suppose I'll see quite a few changes - as Platy points out, not many of them good

 

[Platy]

Sad to hear about the Trinity Beach pub. I had been looking forward to putting myself around a beer or two there when visiting the Cairns area next May to socialise with a group of drinkers with a running problem.

Haven't been there since 1978 so I suppose I'll see quite a few changes - as Platy points out, not many of them good

Most of us (social drinking) locals convene at the beach side bar of L'Unicos Restaurant (corner Vasey Esplanade and Trinity Beach Rd).

There is the tavern if you must drink beer on tap.

Otherwise the Yorkeys Knob Yacht Club has a nice aspect and large deck.

 

[Mal]

Yes, you are right. But also remember in a community of this size the impact goes beyond the tour operators.

Indeed. I visit Cairns around once per year, and chat to some of the locals involved in the tourism industry. I know they realise that, and you realise that, but there are still many shonks that need to be booted out of town and slack tourism operators that need a wake up call.

Perhaps Cairns needs to get back to basics and start marketing things properly both to Australians and other nationalities. Not just trying to attract Japanese tourists by the plane load, who are just herded around the place and can leave with a poor or relatively poor impression. Tourism extends far wider than just Japan, and other markets (eg Hawaii, Fiji and many other places) are getting more and more accessible/welcoming to these tourists.