Tourism takes a hit in Cairns

They come in their thousands and spend millions, but Cairns wedding planners were yesterday coming to terms with the prospect of considerably fewer Japanese couples enjoying north Queensland nuptials.

The number of couples such as Tatsuya and Hiroko Ishii getting married in north Queensland is expected to halve in less than six months, following Qantas’s decision to stop direct flights between Japan and Cairns.

Cairns is the third most popular destination for Japanese couples getting hitched overseas, behind Hawaii and Guam, but with only budget carrier Jetstar making the run from Tokyo, it is expected to be overtaken by Bali when the Qantas flights stop in December.

The Qantas move is expected to devastate the local economy, and the state Government launched a $4million rescue package last week.

About 1500 Japanese couples are married in Cairns every year, with parties of up to 30 people pumping an estimated $25million into the local economy, employing everything from florists to celebrants to dressmakers.

Many of the large hotels in Cairns have chapels, used almost exclusively by Japanese couples who usually go on to to honeymoon in the far north.

South Pacific Bridal manager Peter Ford said Japanese weddings were expected to fall by half, devastating a niche industry that had taken more than a decade to build up.

His company was preparing to close one of its offices and sell some of its six bridal cars.

Another two wedding planners are under similar pressure.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to struggle through and not lose any staff, but we deal with a lot of contractors like florists and celebrants, and we will probably have to cut back there,” Mr Ford said.

Japanese marriages in Cairns peaked at about 2000 two years ago, but have been falling away since Jetstar began replacing Qantas services and fuel surcharges were introduced.

Domestic tourism was also falling due to a dour wet season, rising fuel prices and interest rates and overlapping interstate school holidays.

“There are a lot of rumours in the industry that the Japanese, particularly couples coming here to get married, don’t like the service offered by Jetstar, and want to fly business class,” Mr Ford said.

“The other thing is they are being hit with fuel surcharges of about $500 – that’s more than they are charged to go to other destinations.”