Queensland’s treasurer Curtis Pitt has announced that A$176 million (US$134 million) will be put towards the upgrading and expansion of Cairns Convention Centre.
Aside from the refurbishment of the existing centre, new exhibition space and meeting rooms will also be added.
With this monetary injection, the government predicts that the expansion will bring with it an additional A$30 million of economic benefit for the regional economy each year, 20,000 extra visitors to Cairns every year, and job creation.
Ross Steele, Cairns Convention Centre’s general manager, said: “We welcome the announcement made in the recent budget. The continued commitment by the state government will allow the Cairns Convention Centre to grow in line with the aspirations of the city, with new hotels, new aquarium and continued strong investment in the city heart, it really is an exciting time in Cairns.
“We look forward to progressing our plans for construction which is expected to commence following the Commonwealth Games basketball preliminaries which will be held at the Centre in April 2018.”
