THE Labor Party has pledged a $1billion fund for tourism infrastructure in the Whitsundays if elected in 2019, following a visit to the region this week.

Opposition spokesman for resources and northern Australia Jason Clare visited Proserpine on Tuesday with Labor candidate for Dawson Belinda Hassan to liaise with local business owners, Mayor Andrew Willcox and Tourism Whitsundays to identify focus areas in the region for creating tourism opportunities.

Ms Hassan said the purpose of the visit was to recognise the different issues across each pocket of the Whitsunday region.

"You've only got to walk down the main street and see that businesses are still not operating to the capacity that they were before the cyclone,” Ms Hassan said.

"It's all good for governments to throw money at these areas, but you can't tell the people what they need, you have to ask people what they need and respond to that.”

Mr Clare said he saw many examples of "tough and resilient people” but there was still a long way to go in terms of recovery post-tropical Cyclone Debbie.

"The conversations showed that there's still a lot to do and some really smart ideas from local businesspeople about how to attract more tourists to come to Proserpine and not just drive through,” MrClare said.

"People don't really care which level of government is responsible for what, they just want things fixed. They want the town to get back on its feet and go from strength to strength.

"One of the things that federal government could do is make sure that the Northern Australia fund is used to build infrastructure here that will create jobs building the infrastructure, but then there will be a lasting asset that encourages people to come to town.”

Although no specific infrastructure has been decided at this stage, MrClare said he'd been discussing ideas with Whitsunday Regional Council in regards to projects the council would like to get off the ground.

Ms Hassan said it was important to keep the recovery process of small businesses at the front of people's minds 18 months on from Cyclone Debbie.

"The businesses are still struggling. You've got to get that message back out there that Proserpine's still here, they're still open for business,” she said.

"Don't just drive past when you're heading up the highway. Stop and say 'hi'. Grab a pie at the pie shop. Stop at the pub and have a beer and support this local industry.”