TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND LEADS STATE IN VISITOR GROWTH

Tropical North Queensland is leading the state in domestic visitor growth according to the latest National Visitor Survey, Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said today.

Mrs Keech said the region hosted an extra 323,000 visitors last year, an increase of 26 per cent over the calendar year.

“There was also a significant nine per cent increase in visitor nights helping to make Tropical North Queensland the eighth largest domestic tourism destination in Australia,” she said.

“Domestic tourism expenditure contributed $1.47 billion, including airfares and long distance transport costs, to the Tropical North Queensland economy over the past year.

“More than half of the visitors to the Tropical North Queensland region were there for a holiday, a strong 13 per cent increase on the same time last year,” Mrs Keech said.

Mrs Keech said Tropical North Queensland saw significant increases in visitor numbers and visitor nights from within the state, growing by 33 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

“Visitors from within Queensland accounted for 61 per cent of all domestic tourists to the region.

“It is great see Queenslander’s holidaying and investing in Queensland.

“The Tropical North and Queensland are blessed with some of the world’s best tourism experiences and more and more locals are realising they don’t need to travel interstate or overseas for a world-class holiday.”

Media contact: Jo Gibbons 3224 2007