FNQ hotel rooms full as interstate visitors burst the bubble over Easter school holiday period

Tourism authorities are hopeful domestic travellers will continue to travel to Far North Queensland. (Laya Clode: Unsplash)

Queensland's tourism sector says the industry appears to be bouncing back, after a bumper Easter school holiday period.

More than 70,000 people flew into the tourism-reliant city of Cairns for the Easter weekend and hotel occupancy rates in nearby Port Douglas have been sitting at 90 per cent over the school holiday period.

It is in stark contrast to the same time last year, when flights to the region all but stopped, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen said he was expecting domestic demand for the Cairns region to remain high, heading into the peak tourism season.

"Almost 73,000 passengers travelled through Cairns airport in the week commencing April 5, bringing capacity back to 90 per cent of what it was for the same period in 2019," Mr Olsen said.

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree chief executive Tara Bennett said hotels in the Port Douglas region had been almost at capacity over the school holidays, mainly with visitors from Melbourne and Sydney.

Four Mile Beach at Port Douglas, a famous destination popular with celebrities. (Jane Bunce: AAP)

It is in vast contrast to the same time last year, as hotels emptied and restaurants closed, in a holiday town normally favoured by United States presidents and celebrities.

"We averaged around 90 per cent for the whole region and we're actually holding those figures going forward," Ms Bennett said.

"That's actually better than the same time in 2019.

Tara Bennett says hotel occupancy rates were at 90 per cent over the Easter school holidays.  (ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)

Ms Bennett said it appeared that interstate visitors were becoming more confident about travelling to Queensland, following several border closures over the past year.

"Not only are they coming up but they are getting out and doing so many experiences, they are wanting to make the most of their time," she said.

Hospitality-worker shortage

Far North Queensland's tourism industry has always relied heavily on international workers.

Ms Bennett said with international borders closed, hospitality workers were desperately needed, particularly for hotel cleaning.

"We definitely need more hospitality staff, we are really feeling the pinch for not having working holidaymakers in Australia," she said.

"We have our year-round workers but we always needed that influx of backpackers.