MORE INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS HEADING TO SUNSHINE COAST

More international tourists are staying longer on the Sunshine Coast according to new figures, Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said today.

Mrs Keech said figures from the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) showed a nine per cent increase in the number of people visiting the region.

There were 253,616 visitors to the region up to December 2006, compared to 232,273 the previous year.

“Not only did the number of international tourists increase by nine per cent, but the number of visitor nights also rose by 20 per cent,” Mrs Keech said.

“This is a very strong result for the SunshineCoast, and one that signifies the region’s position as one of Queensland’s top tourism destinations.

“More international visitors who are staying longer is great news for the SunshineCoast!”

Mrs Keech said international visitor growth was driven by strong increases from important markets such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“The SunshineCoast is hugely popular with New Zealand visitors, who accounted for 37 per cent of the total number of international visitors to the region.

“Visitor nights for New Zealand tourists were also up by 13 per cent.

“In addition, nearly a quarter of visitors came from the United Kingdom, which is a considerable rise of 17 per cent.”

Mrs Keech said the great results were a testament to the hard work being done by Tourism Queensland, TourismSunshineCoast and the industry.

“Tourism injected $190 million into the SunshineCoast’s economy in the last calendar year, which is an increase of 18 per cent, and is an excellent result to see such strong figures continuing to bolster SunshineCoast tourism.

“More importantly this equals real economic returns and more job opportunities for Queensland communities.”

Media Contacts: Jo Gibbons 3224 2007 or David Smith 3225 1005