General News
22 October, 2026
‘Blue highway’ leads to city
A ‘BLUE highway’ leading the world’s most luxurious superyachts to Cairns before and after the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games has been unveiled.
Cairns Regional Council has agreed to provide Superyacht Group – Great Barrier Reef $10,000 a year over three years to help develop the $500,000 Brisbane 2032 Marine Project, a nationally-coordinated initiative focused on increasing international superyacht visitation to Queensland and Australia in the lead-up to, during and beyond the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Cr Anna Middleton told a recent council meeting it was part of a nationwide project to lure superyachts to the state as part of the games build-up.
“In 2032, there really is opportunity here for the superyacht industry to basically create a superyacht highway down our coast that would bring a lot of superyachts to the 2032 Olympic Games,” she said.
“They’re looking at this perhaps being worth about $1.8 billion and supporting over 7500 jobs.
“So, this request is fairly reasonable in regard to us being part of those explorations and to see the potential of this market.
“It is very exciting and probably something we need to continue to think about as people come to Brisbane in 2032, where they’re going to stop – and we want them – especially if they’re big yachts, cruise boats, planes, everything else.
“We want them to come by Cairns, so we need to be on the front foot here and get involved in these organisations that are trying to look at ways that we can promote this.
“So, I believe that this is a good option to start these conversations and start looking at how we can create more legacy and have more visitors come through this famous city, not only to see our host city games, but also to go via us to find a bigger picture that we are all looking at,” Cr Middleton said.
Mayor Amy Eden said it was not just about hosting events for a few weeks in 2032.
“It’s what we do between now and then to position our businesses, our industries and our city to benefit from attention and investment that comes with the games,” she said.
“Cairns is a globally-recognised city and it’s globally accessible through our airports and seaports.
“And this, the blue highway, is a really important part of that, as outlined in the report.”
Recently, the superyacht owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos spent a few weeks in the Cairns Marina.
The $700 million Koru is one of the largest sailing vessels in the world.
