CASHED UP DOMESTIC TOURISTS HEAD TO QUEENSLAND

Cashed-up interstate tourists are flocking to Queensland according to new figures announced by Tourism Minister Margaret Keech today.

Mrs Keech said the latest National Visitor Survey figures showed domestic overnight visitation to Queensland grew 5.9 per cent to more than 17.2 million visitors over the past year.

“The amount of visitor nights spent in Queensland also increased by 3.9 per cent to 74 million,” Mrs Keech said.

“Spending (excluding airfares and long distance transport costs) by domestic tourists jumped $682 million or 7.3 per cent, contributing more than $10 billion to Queensland’s economy.

“The number of Australian residents visiting Queensland specifically for holidays rose by 10.6 per cent, driven by an 11.2 per cent increase in Sydney holidaymakers.

“Domestic overnight holiday visitor expenditure in Queensland has grown by 10.7 per cent to $6.12 billion over the year to March 2007.

“It was also great to see that Queensland had six of the top 20 regions for domestic expenditure in Australia including the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Tropical North Queensland, The Whitsundays and Townsville.

“The Gold Coast and Brisbane both made the top five generating more than $2.8 billion and $2.4 billion respectively in domestic tourism.” 

Mrs Keech said the strong results reinforced tourism’s position as a key contributor to the state’s economic growth and employment.

“Tourism is an industry affecting every Queensland region, from the rainforests of the Tropical North and beaches of the South East, to the far west of the Outback and the islands of the Great Barrier Reef,” she said.

“The Beattie Government, through Tourism Queensland, is dedicated to working with regional tourist organisations and industry in developing tourism products and marketing initiatives as well as economic and employment opportunities for Queensland.

“Queensland’s continued strong performance in these surveys is a testament to the development of partnerships throughout our tourism industry.

“This is supported by the new marketing campaigns promoting Queensland and it’s regions as Australia’s best holiday destinations.

“Despite obvious challenges to domestic tourism such as heightened fuel prices, Queensland is continuing to outperform much of Australia in attracting visitors.

“Significant work has been undertaken in the past year to develop and launch new branding and promotional campaigns for the domestic market.

“While many of these new campaigns are in their infancy, the feedback being received from interstate and intrastate travellers has been very encouraging.

“Tourism Queensland continues to work with industry, developing local tourism experiences and products to ensure they service the changing demands of the interstate market.

“I am sure we will continue to see Queensland tourism industry performing well as we build upon the strong initial response to the new ‘Where Else but Queensland’ domestic promotional campaign launched in February this year.”

Media Contact: Jo Gibbons 3225 1005 / 0439 761 416