According to a media release received from Tourism Queensland (TQ) last week, helping tourism businesses prepare for possible severe weather events is the topic of workshops being run by TQ across the state.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said the 'Weatherproof Your Business' workshops taught tourism operators how to ensure their businesses are best placed to deal with the impacts from extreme weather events.

"While Queensland boasts some of the best weather in the world, like any tropical region, it can also be prone to sudden bursts of severe weather-related events," Mr Lawlor said.

"We want our operators to be as resilient as possible in the face of potential challenges to their livelihoods."

Mr Lawlor said participants in the 'Weatherproof Your Business' workshops to date were taken step-by-step through incident response planning and, by the end of the workshops, had developed their own crisis management plan which they could take back to implement in their businesses.

"The workshops help operators remain resilient, ensure that their customers and staff are safe and that they are open for business and welcoming visitors as quickly as possible once the event has passed," he said.

Mr Lawlor said in the past year 'Weatherproof your Business' workshops had been held in Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Mackay, the Sunshine Coast, Yeppoon and Julia Creek.

"Tourism operators who have already participated in the 'Weatherproof your Business' Workshops have praised the sessions and said they found the initiative informative, worthwhile and important for their due diligence," he said.

The 'Weatherproof your Business' workshop for this area is being held in Cairns on 30 November

"I encourage all tourism operators in these regions to attend and help protect their businesses by coming away with their own tailored crisis management plans."

For more information and to register, tourism operators should go to www.tq.com.au/weatherproofyourbusiness.

Editor's Comments:  Here in the tropical north, we welcome the annual rains.  There's nothing quite like visiting a rainforest in the rain, it feels right somehow. Lush flora and abundant fruits, waterfalls and gorges full of energy and surging to the seas to help cool the Great Barrier Reef and ensure it's health for another year.  Fantastic experiences for the lucky visitors who ignore the negative press and come to stay with us during the 'Green time season'.  I appreciate that the article above is pointed mainly at extreme weather conditions but I can't help feeling that not enough education is promoted or easily available to ensure the rest of the world and in fact the rest of Australia can differentiate between potentially serious conditions and normality for a tropical area.  If you haven't visited the far north in the summer months, you really are missing out on some of mother nature's best work!