The Cook Islands – a tropical nation located about halfway between Australia and Hawaii – heavily relies on tourism to drive its economy. In fact, the industry is 75 per cent of its GDP. But the tiny country also knows it has a limit.So what foreign visitors are they choosing to target? Australians.While New Zealanders have long considered the South Pacific islands a picturesque holiday spot, Australians are just starting to catch on.And we make great guests, generally staying longer and spending more than our Kiwi counterparts.“We’re still really unknown in Australia,” Graeme West, Cook Islands Tourism’s general manager of Australasia, told news.com.au while waiting to board a small flight from the stunning island of Aitutaki back to the main island of Rarotonga.“It’s improved over the last few years as we do more marketing and now we’ve got daily flights out of Australia.”Jetstar first launched flights four times a week from Sydney in June 2023 before adding a Brisbane service on the remaining three days in May 2026.Prior to this, it was a holiday only accessible for Aussies who were willing to fly via New Zealand.news.com.au understands there were four airlines that wanted the airport slot but the Aussie budget carrier won out.Mr West explained the plane seats they now have coming in are about equal to the number of guests they can sleep, meaning the goal is not more flights, but to fill those existing flights.“The more Aussies we get, the more Aussies we’re going to get, because you talk to family and friends, and that’s the biggest referral way a destination gets business,” he said.“We’re not too busy yet and we got to make sure we don’t get too busy in our high season (May to October).”The goal is for growth in the New Zealand market to slow down and the Australian market to take over a higher percentage of the Cook Islands’ total visitors.Why? Australian tourists on average stay nine nights compared to Kiwis who stay six, and with more first time visitors, Aussies tend to spend more on experiences. Australian travellers are also more likely to travel beyond Rarotonga to the outer islands.The Cook Islands uses the New Zealand dollar and it helps that the exchange rate is in Australians’ favour.Mr West said the new Brisbane flights were particularly important as Queenslanders tend to travel more year-round, and this will help spread tourist numbers across the year, including through the low season (November to April).The Cook Islands is hoping it may benefit from Aussies looking at holidays closer to home this year.For those hesitant to fly to Europe this northern summer due to travel disruptions in the Middle East and increased airfares amid rising jet fuel prices, Mr West says they should “100 per cent try something new” and consider the Cook Islands.Fiji is the destination’s biggest competitor but Mr West assures, “we’re very different”.“We don’t have any international branded hotels, our properties are a lot smaller than the big ones, so it’s a very easy, laid back destination, and you feel free,” he said.“That’s why ‘Freedom Awaits’ is our slogan in Australia and New Zealand because you feel free when you’re here. You can go to any beach, you can go to any cafe, restaurant. You’re mingling with locals, you’re not just in a resort.”Rarotonga is 5 hours 25 minutes from Brisbane and 5 hours 50 minutes from Sydney, tourists are issued a 31-day visitor visa on arrival, the crime rate is low, you can use an Australian driver’s licence, there’s no traffic lights, and the highest speed limit is 50km/h. Local laws don’t even require seat belts to be worn.A loop of the main island can be driven in about 40 minutes, there’s no buildings higher than three storeys (or the tallest palm tree), pride is taken in keeping the islands well-maintained and litter free, and clear waters and abundant marine life make for epic snorkelling straight off the beach.But perhaps one of the most attractive elements as a tourist destination is locals actually love visitors and want to share their beautiful piece of the world with us.“Almost everybody in the Cook Islands is some way involved or touched by tourism, whether it’s the grower for the markets, the people doing the airport transfers, the hoteliers, the restaurants, the cafes, the adventure and activity operators, almost everybody is affected by it in some way,” Mr West said. “Some people have two or three jobs in tourism”.While popular travel spots across the world are grappling with overtourism and tensions are high between locals and tourists in some cities, Cook Islanders have their arms open.But there is no doubt tourism growth must be managed carefully to maintain the island nation’s charm.This writer travelled to the Cook Islands on the inaugural Brisbane flight as a guest of Jetstar and Cook Islands Tourism