Page 8 - Tropic Magazine Issue 12

EDITOR’S

LETTER

Gavin King

I’m high in the sky without Wi-Fi, my brain In recent months, our team here at Tropic
getting hits of clarity in the quiet Group has been talking with local businesses
semi-darkness of this SilkAir plane about launching a marketing campaign for
somewhere between Singapore and Cairns. Cairns, and we’ll ramp that up in coming
No pings, alerts, notifications... Just months. The aim is to get our city’s brand in
ridiculously attractive cabin crew serving free front of southerners in capital cities who might
beer while I scribble notes on a hotel notepad be persuaded there’s a better way to live. Life’s
with a sharp pencil (my new favourite thing). too short to be stuck in traffic for hours or
I’m jetting home after a three-night weighed down by the stress of exorbitant
rollercoaster ride in what is arguably Asia’s mortgages. If only they knew what they were
most sophisticated and wealthiest destination. missing. We need to shake them by the
It was a blast, a short, frenetic burst of action shoulders and wake them up to the possibility
in this clean, efficient, extremely polite of relocating to Cairns. We can do this by
city-state. During the course of 72 hours I saw telling our city’s story in a compelling,
the top tourist attractions, visited a lot of authentic way and debunking some myths
cocktail bars, ate too much street food at about Cairns, while talking about the
hawker markets and sampled too many opportunities and benefits of moving north.
below-average coffees in between business
meetings about potential opportunities in Asia
for our company Tropic Group. I packed a lot
in. Now I’m unpacking it all in this editor’s It's time for Cairns to stand up
letter.
Here’s something I learnt about Cairns while and market itself as a viable
in Singapore. alternative to capital city living
It took a trip overseas to remind me that our
city punches above its weight for a bunch of
different reasons, much more than we
acknowledge or celebrate. We may not have
the metropolitan buzz of a Singapore or a We’re keen to work with a group of visionary
Sydney, but we’ve got the type of qualities local businesses and organisations to create,
those expensive, over-crowded places can’t fund and promote a Cairns marketing
offer. Lifestyle, housing affordability, short campaign delivered with a strategic, three-year
commute times, a sense of community. These plan. Can we get 100 businesses on board? We
are the traits of a city that people are think so. And we’d love to talk to you about
increasingly searching for in today’s joining us on this journey that will benefit all of
blink-and-you’ll-miss-it existence. us in the long run. Drop me a line at
On the flight home, I realised more than ever [email protected] to find out more.
that Cairns has a host of unique selling points Meanwhile, please enjoy this 12th edition of
the world should know about. We are more Tropic, the first time we’ve hit 100 pages since
than just the Great Barrier Reef that we sell to our launch in 2016. Once again, we sincerely
tourists. thank the businesses and advertisers who
I know I’m not the only one who believes it's continue to support us in our vision to promote
time for Cairns to stand up and market itself the best of our city with insightful, engaging
as a viable alternative to capital city living. We content across print, digital and social media.
are more than just a place to visit for a brief Thank you from our team to yours.
holiday. This is a relaxing, rewarding place to
live, work, raise a family or retire in. And it
feels good to fly back home to.

Gavin King