Queensland continues to reach domestic tourism highs

Published Tuesday, 23 April, 2019 at 08:58 AM

Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development and Minister for the Commonwealth Games
The Honourable Kate Jones

As Queensland tourism operators capitalised on a bumper Easter break, new data showed a record number of domestic visitors spent more than ever before in 2018.

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said National Visitor Survey showed 24 million Australian visitors spent more than $18 billion in Queensland last year.

“This data shows our domestic tourism industry grew by more than 15 per cent last year, outstripping both NSW and Victoria – that’s a sweet treat at Easter,” she said.

“It just goes to show that our strategy to grow Queensland’s tourism industry and create more local jobs is working.

“We restored the $188 million cut from the tourism industry by the LNP and we’ve allocated record funding for this sector.

“Now we can boast record gains in our share of the cash domestic visitors spend in Australia consecutively for the last four years. This is a huge victory for our tourism industry.”

Ms Jones said record expenditure and corresponding growth in market share also proved the success of Queensland’s ‘Find your perfect next’ campaign, reviving the much-loved ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next’ slogan.

“The campaign highlights everything that makes Queensland the perfect holiday destination, showcasing the breadth of experiences our state has to offer,” she said.

“We’re also partnering with the private sector to deliver new tourism attractions.

“We’ve seen the re-opening of Daydream Island Resort in the Whitsundays this month along with the announcement that Australia Zoo will embark on an $8 million wildlife camping project.

“Investments like these will ensure our tourism industry continues to grow under the Palaszczuk Government.”

According to Tourism Research Australia’s latest National Visitor Survey, 24.08 million Australian visitors spent $18.26 billion in Queensland in the year ending December 2018 - growth of 10.6 per cent and 15.6 per cent respectively.

Ms Jones said growth in regions like the Whitsundays, Southern Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Coast and the Sunshine Coast highlighted the diversity of Queensland’s tourism offerings.

“These results show that our support for Queensland’s tourism industry is delivering results right across the state,” Ms Jones said.

“While the industry has great momentum, we know there’s always more work to be done to continue to grow the state’s tourism industry.

“We’ll continue to work with airlines to attract more routes into Queensland, support events that attract visitors and market Queensland around the world as the perfect next holiday destination.”

[ENDS] 

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