The summer holiday season has gotten off to a disastrous start in far north Queensland, with extreme weather and widespread flooding causing an estimated $60 million in holiday cancellations. The region’s tourism industry is reeling as numerous towns from Cooktown to Innisfail are cut off by floodwaters, and the Cairns airport has closed due to the severe flooding emergency.
Mark Olsen, chief executive officer of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, said the industry has already taken a significant hit, with over 4,500 visitors in the region, including 400 emergency services crews. “We are desperate,” Olsen said, adding that the Barron River had overflowed into the Cairns airport for the first time in history. The airport will not reopen until it has been given the all-clear, and Olsen warned that the industry will need assistance to rebuild.
Patrick Kelly, a traveler from Belfast, was booked to fly to Cairns with his wife and son but received a cancellation notice on Sunday night. Kelly was offered alternative flights through Melbourne for a later date, but after seeing photos of flooding at Cairns airport, he felt it would be some time before operations resumed. He has canceled bookings to tour the Great Barrier Reef and the Kuranda Railway and is considering claiming the cost of his Airbnb on insurance.
Ecotourism company Daintree Rainforest has been closed since ferries were canceled last Tuesday, and director Angie Hewitt said the business is suffering significantly. “For tourism businesses over here, you can imagine we are suffering quite significantly,” Hewitt said. Hewitt had to cancel three tour groups of up to 15 guests apiece on Monday alone, and did not anticipate being able to reopen for at least three more days due to the ongoing flooding and road damage.
Queensland FloodsThe region has been hit hard by the floodwaters, with the Daintree River not expected to stop flooding for at least another three days. The impact on tourism is compounding the effects of the previous Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the state hand out 15,000 travel vouchers in a recovery attempt. Hewitt warned that the shortage of supplies and emergency services is becoming increasingly dire, and called the situation an “emergency.”
The disruption to the industry follows a difficult period for north Queensland’s tourism sector, which was already reeling from the pandemic. The Cairns airport issued a statement, warning that it will take some time to assess the runway infrastructure and determine its serviceability. With flights canceled and delayed, the region is bracing itself for a long and difficult recovery period. Hewitt acknowledged that weather events are a part of the terrain in north Queensland, but businesses are vulnerable to the impact on tourism.