Melbourne big loser in airport plan
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Melbourne big loser in airport plan
Thurs "Melbourne Age" 2/5/02
Melbourne big loser in airport plan
By Phillip Hudson
Political Correspondent
May 2 2002
Cairns may become Australia's second most important international airport and be promoted ahead of Melbourne as a "northern hub" for tourism under a proposal to be unveiled today by federal Tourism Minister Joe Hockey.
The proposal is among a series of ideas raised in a 104-page government discussion paper on the tourism industry to be released today.
Mr Hockey said that because almost all visitors arrived by air, it was worth considering whether to make Cairns a "northern hub" to take the pressure off Sydney Airport. He said more direct flights to northern Australia from Asia would remove the requirement for many tourists to enter Australia through Sydney.
Melbourne would remain a priority airport for business travel and freight. "Cairns offers an opportunity to open up regional Australia to new markets without having to go through the southern capitals on the way," he said.
Melbourne Airport chief executive Chris Barlow said tourism accounted for 40 per cent of passenger numbers and he believed "Melbourne and Cairns will both benefit" from the plans to boost tourism.
Passenger arrival and departure figures for 2000-01 show about 2.1 million international travellers used Cairns Airport and 3.7 million used Melbourne Airport. About 13.6 million domestic passengers used Melbourne Airport compared with 830,000 using Cairns.
Mr Hockey, who has spent four days visiting country Victoria by bus and meeting local small businesses, is preparing the biggest shake-up of the tourism sector in decades. The discussion paper is the first step towards delivering the first white paper on tourism, which will set out a 10-year plan for the industry.
Mr Hockey will also call for toll roads to be considered as a way to bring forward the building of much needed infrastructure projects and is urging multi-billion-dollar superannuation funds to use their money to help underpin the tourism industry.
The discussion paper also calls for more tourism operators to provide Chinese and Indonesian-language services to meet an expected surge in tourists from Asia in the next decade.
Mr Hockey said he would present reform options to cabinet in August and all aspects of tourism would be considered, including tax, immigration, transport, environment and infrastructure issues.
Official forecasts predict the number of overseas tourists visiting Australia will double to 10 million a year by 2012.
Melbourne big loser in airport plan
By Phillip Hudson
Political Correspondent
May 2 2002
Cairns may become Australia's second most important international airport and be promoted ahead of Melbourne as a "northern hub" for tourism under a proposal to be unveiled today by federal Tourism Minister Joe Hockey.
The proposal is among a series of ideas raised in a 104-page government discussion paper on the tourism industry to be released today.
Mr Hockey said that because almost all visitors arrived by air, it was worth considering whether to make Cairns a "northern hub" to take the pressure off Sydney Airport. He said more direct flights to northern Australia from Asia would remove the requirement for many tourists to enter Australia through Sydney.
Melbourne would remain a priority airport for business travel and freight. "Cairns offers an opportunity to open up regional Australia to new markets without having to go through the southern capitals on the way," he said.
Melbourne Airport chief executive Chris Barlow said tourism accounted for 40 per cent of passenger numbers and he believed "Melbourne and Cairns will both benefit" from the plans to boost tourism.
Passenger arrival and departure figures for 2000-01 show about 2.1 million international travellers used Cairns Airport and 3.7 million used Melbourne Airport. About 13.6 million domestic passengers used Melbourne Airport compared with 830,000 using Cairns.
Mr Hockey, who has spent four days visiting country Victoria by bus and meeting local small businesses, is preparing the biggest shake-up of the tourism sector in decades. The discussion paper is the first step towards delivering the first white paper on tourism, which will set out a 10-year plan for the industry.
Mr Hockey will also call for toll roads to be considered as a way to bring forward the building of much needed infrastructure projects and is urging multi-billion-dollar superannuation funds to use their money to help underpin the tourism industry.
The discussion paper also calls for more tourism operators to provide Chinese and Indonesian-language services to meet an expected surge in tourists from Asia in the next decade.
Mr Hockey said he would present reform options to cabinet in August and all aspects of tourism would be considered, including tax, immigration, transport, environment and infrastructure issues.
Official forecasts predict the number of overseas tourists visiting Australia will double to 10 million a year by 2012.
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Maybe Cairns should vote "Jeff" in as Mayor, steal all the major events from VIC, GP, AUS open, etc, and then there would be no competition! Sun, sand, rainforrest, reef, Barra fishing, white water rafting, versus wading through the dog sh!t on St Kilda bch, carp fishing in the Murray, and picnics at Hanging Rock... Hmmmm. Tough choice for the tourists, I must admit.
It looks like the FEDS have stumbled on the answer to win back the tourists though. PUT IN MORE TOLL ROADS! That should do it!
This guy Hockey is an oxygen thief! It is great news for Australian Airlines though, seems the QF board are streets ahead of Hockey's elite team. I am amazed they were able to come up with 104 pages of report, it must have lots of picies!
In commimg!! Back to my bunker...
It looks like the FEDS have stumbled on the answer to win back the tourists though. PUT IN MORE TOLL ROADS! That should do it!
This guy Hockey is an oxygen thief! It is great news for Australian Airlines though, seems the QF board are streets ahead of Hockey's elite team. I am amazed they were able to come up with 104 pages of report, it must have lots of picies!In commimg!! Back to my bunker...
