Foreign Baby Boomers trying to tick ‘Great Barrier Reef’ off their bucket lists are behind the spike in fatalities in the region this year, according to Queensland tourism expert Col McKenzie.
Just this week a 75-year-old Japanese woman was pulled from the water near Cairns after blacking out at Moore Reef.
In November, two snorkeling French women in their 70s, and a 61-year-old British scuba diver also died while in the water of the Great Barrier Reef.
McKenzie says 40% of the tourism market for the Great Barrier Reef are foreign travelers from the Baby Boomer generation.
‘They’re out there now doing what we’d term their bucket list-type activities they want to do before they die,’ he explained to the Brisbane Times.
‘Well I’d appreciate them finishing their bucket list before they kick the bucket.’