NEW Opposition Treasurer Joe Hockey has urged the Federal Government to help publicise that the Far North is open for business and is not underwater.

The misguided perception that Cairns, Port Douglas and the Tableland are affected by flooding has also caught the eye of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.

On his first day as shadow treasurer yesterday, Mr Hockey was in Cairns as a guest speaker for an urban development conference.

"Cairns is open for business and people think it's closed because of floods and dengue and that is a false perception across the country and internationally as well," Mr Hockey said.

"People think Cairns is underwater and that's dead wrong.

"I would ask the Government to come up here for themselves and do a little less relying on travelling overseas because Australians need to have holidays and the Far North is open for business.

"Tourism has been hit hard. It's not about spending. It's about being prudent and putting confidence back into the Australian people."

The impact on the tourism dollar is not known but the Far North has suffered huge declines in business because of a perception the region is underwater.

Paronella Park owner Mark Evans said his domestic and interstate visitor numbers had dropped by 75 per cent on last year.

"People are reading that more than 60 per cent of the area is underwater - the size of South Australia," Mr Evans said.

"We had inundation one afternoon but for the rest of that period, it has been fine.

"Mission Beach is also suffering. A big part of their market is fly-in, drive-in travellers."

Mr Hockey said the Rudd Government should strategically target small businesses and help them create new jobs.

"The Rudd Government knows how to spend money and not save it," he said.

"It’s all about jobs here in Cairns. Cairns is doing it tough because of floods and dengue and this town is full of small business enterprise."

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