Tully was established to service the surrounding sugar cane plantations. In recent times it has reached beyond sugar to become a hugely important district for banana growing. Consequently, unlike the idyllic beach locations in the surrounding area, it is known as a town driven by industry which attracts backpackers eager to become rural workers and earn a few extra dollars.
The town is famous as the wettest place in Australia with an annual average rainfall of 4270 mm and a record for the highest annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia, with 7900 mm in 1950. Tully is one of the main sugar producing regions of Queensland with more than 22,000 ha of sugar cane extending from the Kennedy Valley in the south to Feluga in the north.