Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) celebrated its 50th anniversary at the 2025 Qantas and Jetstar TNQ Tourism Industry Excellence Awards on October 24 at the Cairns Convention Centre, with 350 guests in attendance.
Former chair George Chapman, general manager Bill Cummings and other past staff and board members joined industry representatives to recognise five decades of promoting the region.
Current TTNQ chair John O’Sullivan said the organisation was founded through collaboration by those who established the Far North Queensland Development Bureau, registered on September 12, 1975.
TTNQ CEO Mark Olsen noted its role as Australia’s oldest and largest Regional Tourism Organisation and acknowledged the contribution of those who developed the region’s World Heritage attractions.
Guests received a commemorative booklet, Hunting as a Pack, and the new Robbie Bastion Award for Inbound Marketing was introduced to recognise campaigns that prioritise the destination. The award honours the late Robbie Bastion, who promoted the region internationally.
O’Sullivan commented: “Over the past five decades there have been many visionaries and their legacy continues with Tropical North Queensland’s tourism industry developed by family businesses whose owners were proud to live and work in this region.”
“History is an invaluable teacher and so we pause in the 50th year of Tourism Tropical North Queensland to look back at five decades of passion, innovation and resilience that have transformed Tropical North Queensland into the A$4.5 billion (US$2.9 billion) powerhouse of today,” added Olsen.
