While these are the big vessels normally spotted in the Port of Weipa, editor Lyndon Keane asks what part luxury cruise ships and the high-paying customers they carry could play in a diverse and vibrant future for western Cape York. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Are we cruising towards a sustainable future that involves rolling out the red carpet to big spending tourists who demand the best and are willing to part with significant cash for experiences only western Cape York can offer?
If the buzz that followed the idea being thrown on the table at the 2025 Western Cape Futures Symposium is anything to go by, attracting premium cruise ships to join the bauxite carriers in the Port of Weipa is a strategy that absolutely must be explored as part of a diversified pathway to a prosperous future for this part of the world.
At a cursory glance, the numbers certainly warrant a deeper dive into luxury cruise passengers becoming a pivotal extra bow in Cape York’s tourism quiver. About 120,000 people visit our backyard every year, most of whom arrive via the well-worn route up the Peninsula Developmental Road. According to tourism body figures, our southern and international visitors spend an average of $115 each per day in our region, half that of what they do in Cairns ($232) and even much less than in the heart of outback Queensland, Longreach ($192). On the opposite side of the coin, some of these well-heeled seafarers on the luxury cruise ships that currently visit the Torres Strait but completely bypass Cape York are coughing up nearly $20,000 per head to barely catch a glimpse of our magnificent coastline, let alone soak up the people and experiences that truly make western Cape York great.
A common theme of the symposium was our unique environment, the day-to-day experiences we take for granted and, of course, our colourful characters, so why aren’t we getting on the gravy train?
As regional harbourmaster Captain David Ferguson told delegates, these types of tourists are prepared to part with “real coin for real experience”, like getting bogged en route to a secret barramundi spot, or sitting down around a fire with Traditional Owners to hear their stories and share a bit of authentic bush tucker.
“What you think is normal … this is big to the rest of the world,” he said on day one of the symposium.
His sentiment was echoed by former prime minister and Space Centre Australia chairman Scott Morrison, who acknowledged Cape York residents “do ordinary things in extraordinary places”.
We have a reasonable starting point in terms of port infrastructure, so why don’t we put attracting tourists only too happy to open their wallets at the top of the to-do list for actions to come from the symposium? If the figures bandied about are to be believed, it’s an opportunity too rich to ignore, especially given peak cruise season is at a different time of the year to when we’re inundated by caravans and motorhomes.
There was no shortage of brilliant possibilities offered up at the symposium, from the western Cape becoming a luxury cruise hub, to the creation of data centres, space ports and new players entering the resources sector.
Which concept would I like to see come to fruition most? If you’ll allow me the indulgence of being greedy, I want them all to become a reality. The more diverse an economy we have now and into the future, the stronger our community will be, not just for those who attended the symposium, but for the generations who will take up the baton of protecting and promoting our home.
A huge congratulations to Jaime, Jen, Jack and the rest of the team for their tireless work in the lead-up to and during the symposium that made it an engaging environment in which to spitball what the future of our region will look like.
If we are to reap the full potential of the biennial event – and western Cape York – it’s imperative we keep the accelerator planted to the floor and the pressure on government, our community and business leaders, and those promising the world for our region to transform words into actions. A vibrant future in a part of the country too often forgotten depends on it.
Former prime minister and Space Centre Australia chairman Scott Morrison says western Cape York residents do “ordinary things in extraordinary places”, which makes our backyard so attractive to visitors and new potential commercial ventures. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
