Rosie Douglas, Director Sales & Marketing — Events, TTNQ
Cairns undergoing a Renaissance
Almost $1 billion worth of investment is transforming the city of Cairns, which over the coming three years will see the opening of three new hotels, a global tourism hub, including the expansion of the Cairns Convention Centre, a water front brewery and a performing arts precinct. Crystalbrook Collection has three hotels currently under construction, and in a break from tradition, each property is named as a sibling of the Crystalbrook family. Riley, Cairns’ newest 5-star hotel, boasts a sophisticated character with a playful outlook on life and a passion for the resort lifestyle. Featuring 311 rooms overlooking the Cairns Esplanade, and meeting space for up to 400, this property will open in September. Bailey, the thoughtful arty hotel will open with 220 rooms in mid 2019. Flynn, the wild child, will ooze fun and energy and will come to life in 2020. These three hotels will add another 840 rooms to the Cairns CBD.
The Queensland government has committed $176m (over two years from 2018-19 ) towards the expansion and refurbishment of the Cairns Convention Centre, following the consideration of a business case. This expansion will see an additional 3,000m2 of exhibition space, a new plenary hall and meeting rooms.
The global tourism hub (also known as an integrated resort development), located immediately opposite the Convention Centre will be a high quality, mixed use destination venue aimed at providing tourism, leisure and entertainment facilities that appeal to a broad demographic. The development will reflect world’s best practice in tropical design, drawing from international concepts such as Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.
Hemingway’s Brewery, also located on the Cairns Waterfront will open in June. Beers, freshly brewed on site, will complement a menu boasting fresh local produce. It will also add another offsite venue to the city and will be a great addition for welcome functions and informal dinners.
Cairns Airport is the lifeblood of the city and we are very excited about new routes that have opened up for Asia. China Southern and Hainan Airlines commenced flights in December 2017 adding another 40,000 seats into Cairns. This combined with Silk Air going to five services a week, gives us great connectivity not only to and from Asia, but also into Europe and beyond.
This is a very exciting time to be living in Cairns. In a world that is constantly moving, we are continually complimented on our ability to deliver world class events in a very relaxed, hassle free environment. While this new infrastructure will see some physical changes to our city, nothing will change in how we service the growing number of national and international visitors.
