The tourism industry is the total of all businesses that directly provide goods or services to facilitate business, pleasure and leisure activities away from the home environment.

Everyone gains from properly managed tourism and it can be especially important in regional areas because it diversifies the area’s economic base and expands the employment market.

Tourism businesses such as accommodation and tour operators represent only a small proportion of the people employed in the tourism industry or who benefit from it. As the tourist dollars trickle down they spread throughout the community and the economy in often surprising ways.

How Tourism Works

The existing tourism system represents a multi-layered structure for industry to engage through a number of destination marketing organisations, each requiring an additional level of investment (membership).

Tourism Australia (TA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for attracting international visitors to Australia, both for leisure and business events.

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) is a statutory body of the Queensland Government and the state’s lead marketing, destination and experience development and major events agency. 

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) is the regional tourism organisation (RTO) for Tropical North Queensland and is a membership based, industry funded, incorporated private company, limited by guarantee.

Local Tourism Organisations

The region is broken into the following six sub-regions, three of which supported by separate local tourism organisations (LTOs).  LTO’s have the responsibility of ensuring their sub-region is promoted and marketed to visitors leveraging from the work delivered by the RTO (pre-arrival).

• Port Douglas & Daintree – Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree (TPDD)
• Cassowary Coast – Tropical Coast Tourism (TCT)
• Atherton Tablelands & Kuranda – Tourism Atherton Tablelands (TAT)