Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree executive officer Doug Ryan said there had been an overall increase in the number of Chinese visitors to the region, particularly over the Chinese New Year period in February.

“Some of the five star hotels reported doubling their capacity during this time. It was great to see some of the market moving into regional areas during this busy period.

“The Port Douglas region is attracting the up-market FIT Chinese who are looking for something other than a city experience.”

Mr Ryan said many resorts, restaurants and operators were now offering tailored services for both the Chinese and Japanese markets.

Steven Oakley, general manager of QT, said there were real opportunities with the inbound Chinese market, and was looking forward to developing this market further.

“Chinese New Year was an excellent opportunity to showcase the region to large numbers of visitors. Our focus now will be to create further awareness of Port Douglas as a destination not only for FITs but also groups.

“Port Douglas has a lot of appeal – it has five star resorts that appeal to the high end market, luxury boutiques as well as the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree rainforest,”

For more information, please contact :

Doug Ryan

Executive Officer

Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree

Phone:  07 4099 4588 / 0417794875

Email:  eo@visitportdouglas.com

Web:  www.tpdd.com.au