Published Tuesday, 10 June, 2025 at 01:16 PM

Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation
The Honourable Andrew Powell

MEDIA STATEMENT: Destination 2045: Travelling Outback in time for Destination 2045

DESTINATION 2045
Travelling Outback in time for Destination 2045 

  • Western Queensland to benefit from 20-year tourism plan Destination 2045.
  • From fossils to night skies, Western Queensland to showcase unique tourism offerings.
  • Destination 2045 sets the stage for Queensland to become a global leader in ecotourism, a hub for mega events, and a well-connected international destination.  

The Crisafulli Government has invested in Western Queensland tourism, to inspire more visitors to experience the magic of millions of years ago – from fossils to the stars millions of lightyears away. 

Destination2045: Queensland’s Tourism Future is a visionary roadmap to supercharge the State’s tourism industry into a new era of growth, sustainability and global leadership.  

The Outback is at the forefront, with a range of tourism projects promised for Western Queensland including:.   

  • Dark Sky Tourism: Investigating Dark Sky accreditation in suitable locations across Western Queensland to safeguard our night skies and provide opportunities for visitors to experience the night sky.  
  • Transforming conservation properties into national parks: These new parks will be significant tourism assets for the region, particularly for drive tourism, expanding the existing number of attractions and attracting visitors to the broader region.  
  • Boodjamulla – Lawn Hill gorge: Revitalising the area after the 2023 floods, with resotred visitor facilities, upgraded walking tracks, and essential infrastructure improvements.  
  • Improved connectivity: new Connecting Queensland fund supporting better intrastate connections.
  • Growing agritourism: More agritourism experiences like farm strays and paddock-to-plate offerings, helping famers improve profitability.  
  • Queensland is home of events: Half events calendar growth will be in the regions including Western Queensland. 

Destination 2045 aims to more than double the value of visitor expenditure to Queensland’s economy to $84 billion in two decades, while employing 25 per cent more Queenslanders directly.  

The plan overturns a decade of failure by Labor on tourism and commits to reverse funding cuts planned under the former Government that would have reduced programs and services.   

The plan builds on tourism’s critical role in Queensland’s economy, which currently supports more than 270,000 jobs and generates $115m a day in visitor expenditure. About nine out of 10 tourism operations are small businesses. 

Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell said Destination 2045 set a new benchmark for Queensland’s tourism industry. 

“From the iconic Mount Isa Rodeo to cruising down the Thomson River, Western Queensland is not only huge in size – it is huge in experiences,” said Minister Powell.  

“Dinosaur tourism is a huge opportunity for Queensland, expected to generate $82 million and support 1,373 full-time employees in the next 15 years. 

“From digging into our dinosaur history to gazing up at the world’s clearest night skies - Destination 2045 will unlock Western Queensland’s tourism potential.” 

ENDS 

MEDIA CONTACT: Fiona Crawford 0417700363