The Accor group’s flagship Cairns property, the five-star Pullman Reef Casino Hotel, is still looking forward to the launch of Jetstar’s new route between Japan and Cairns, despite an announcement delaying the first flight until April 2010, according to the hotel’s general manager.
Jetstar recently announced it had had postponed the proposed creation of flights between Cairns and Japan until April next year after it was unable to reach an agreement with the Cairns International Airport.
However Adrian Williams, the general manager of the Pullman Reef Casino Hotel, which was rebranded under the luxury brand banner late last year, said the new Cairns-Osaka route is still great news for the region and inspiring confidence that the city may be about to embark on a positive new growth phase
“It was originally hoped the four weekly flights to Japan would launch in December,” said Williams, who took over the GM role at the beginning of the year.
“The delay however is just a minor hiccup, and essentially provides tourism operators, marketers and travel agents with a better lead time in which to properly prepare a strategy to sell on the back of these services.”
Jetstar had been negotiating with the airport over landing fees and charges for the flights, which are expected to bring up to 62,000 Japanese visitors to Cairns each year.
Williams said Jetstar’s commitment and ‘aggressive’ marketing approach to Japan has overall been encouraging for Cairns tourist operators and hoteliers.
“Jetstar’s new Osaka service to Cairns is still the first real sign that the destination may be poised to start a positive new cycle in 2010,” he said.
“The Osaka service is an opportunity to grow Japanese visitation that will ease the pressure on hotels, restaurants and attractions.
Williams said he strongly believed that 2009 would represent the bottom of the current cycle. “Like many destinations reliant on tourism and corporate travellers, Cairns has been responsive to the difficult GFC period and demonstrated new adaptability and innovation.”
