We bring the best of Cairns, in one place.

Heidi Yates

Director

Heidi left the UK 35 years ago after completing a BSc Degree in Psychology. She spent the next 10 years travelling and working around the world. Travel, adventure, diving and photography are her passions! She worked in the Philippines as a gold bullion trader for 2 years and for a skydiving, diving and parasailing company in Key West, Florida, USA for 2 years. She has travelled extensively including the South Pacific – Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Malaysia, Borneo, Canada and South Africa. She finally settled in Australia after meeting her Husband, Marty 26 years ago, and has worked in the tourism industry in Cairns ever since. She has worked on tour desks, on reef boats as an underwater photographer, in Sales and Marketing for various Dive companies, and as a tourism Training and Development Manager, so has a broad knowledge of the Cairns tourism industry. Heidi and Marty have run Visit Cairns for over 21 years. Heidi is very passionate about the area and the tourism industry. She provides 5 star service and specialises in creating personalised itineraries for her clients, meeting their exact needs, ensuring they get the very best experience in the area. Heidi also specialises in looking after groups (many school groups), charters and corporate events. She has organised NYE events for thousands of people over the years. Heidi is our charter specialist. She has organised charters for many VIP’s over the years. Her favourite is the wonderful UK comedian Bill Bailey, who for the past 15 years, she has organised charters for every 2 years, when he does his world tours. She also organised a 2 day reef charter for Baz Luhrman and his family (film director of Moulin Rouge, Great Gatsby, Australia and Elvis). Also she put together a last minute charter for Gary Barlow (UK pop group Take That) for his TV series. Heidi and Marty are both very passionate about the reef and the rainforest and spend every spare moment either in the rainforest or underwater exploring new and exciting reef locations! They raised their daughter with the same love of the Great Barrier Reef, who started snorkelling the reef at 3 years of age, and became a certified diver at 12 years of age. Together they have experienced every reef tour in the region! Heidi and Marty love adventure sports and have skydived, parasailed, quad biked, bungy jumped, white water rafted, zip lined, hot air ballooned…. pretty much all and everything the area has to offer……so speak from great experience! Heidi has also spent 3 days in a shark cage on a 3 day 2 night Great White Shark Expedition in South Australia, being one of her most amazing experiences of her life – being in the water face to face with massive and majestic great white sharks over 3 days.

Marty Yates

Director

With over 30 years in Australian tourism, Marty is passionate about Cairns and the Tropical North. Spending his spare time scuba diving, sailing, hiking, 4wding and seakayaking, he knows the region like few others.

Visitor Services

Helping travellers plan unforgettable Tropical North Queensland experiences.

Industry Support

Working with operators to build a stronger, more sustainable tourism industry.

Destination Marketing

Sharing our region with the world and attracting the right visitors.