Published Wednesday, 12 November, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
National parks contribute $4.43 billion a year to Queensland
National Parks are a $4.43 billion a year drawcard for Queensland’s tourism industry, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said today.
The figures are from a Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre report released this week.
“This expenditure accounts for approximately 28 per cent of total tourist spending across the State,” Ms Boyle said.
“Direct spending by tourists for whom visiting a National Park is a key feature of their trip, is more than $749 million per annum, and contributes around $345 million to gross state product per annum.
“The report was a two-year pilot project and is part of an Australia-wide initiative, National Atlas, detailing the economic impact of tourism to national parks.
“What it found was national park visitor expenditure included accommodation in hotels, motels, travel (including air fares, bus fares, car hire and fuel), dining at restaurants and local shopping.”
Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara said the EPA spent $27 million as a direct contribution to tourism-related products and services and a further $40 million indirectly.
“The research demonstrates that this investment in Queensland’s parks and forests is returned many-fold to Queenslanders,” he said.
Minister Boyle said it came as no surprise Queensland’s environment had such an appeal with domestic and international visitors in regions such as Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Tropical North Queensland and the Sunshine Coast.
“The report highlighted all Queensland regions greatly benefit from national park-related tourism with a mix of intrastate, inter-state and international visitors lining up to see the natural attractions,” she said.
“At the Gold Coast, visitor spending relating to national parks was calculated to be $680 million while in Tropical North Queensland it was just over $1.3 billion.
“Visitors to national parks of Queensland’s central west spent $23 million and visitors to Lark Quarry near Winton spent almost $60 million.”
Ms Boyle said Queensland tourism operators were positioned to capitalise on the growing trend towards nature-based tourism activities.
“Last financial year more than two million domestic visitors to Queensland participated in a nature based activity while in Queensland,” she said.
“Similarly, 1.4 million international visitors to Australia who participated in nature-based activities visited Queensland.
“We are encouraging people to come and experience the natural wonders of Queensland and through the further development of our nature-based visitor experiences we will be able to educate our visitors about our environment and what we all can do to preserve it for generations to come.”
Mr McNamara said the report highlighted the importance of one of the Toward Q2 initiatives - Green Queensland which encouraged Queenslanders and visitors alike to work together to look after our environment.
He said the Bligh Government had set targets to further protect Queensland’s lifestyle and natural environment from the pressures of a growing population and climate change and would protect 50 per cent more areas as National Park towards that aim.
The Director of Research at Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, David Simmons said the research highlighted the value of national parks for visitors.
“All of our research on nature-based tourism across Australia indicates that access to national parks and the opportunities for enjoyment, activities and education found they are a cornerstone of the Australian visitor experience,” he said.
Ms Boyle said the $70,000 Valuing tourism spend arising from visitation to Queensland National Parks report detailing the contribution National Park visitors make to Queensland’s economy was jointly funded by Tourism Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency and the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.
*Note to editors:
• The report does not detail the overall contribution National Parks make to Queensland’s economy, such as flow on affects and day trips.
• The term National Park-associated spending refers to all direct tourist spending by those who included a visit to a national park as part of their itinerary whilst the terms National Park generated funding refers to the part of total tourist spending that can be attributed to the existence of and accessibility to the national parks.
Ends
Media contact:
Tourism Minister’s Office - 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Sustainability Minister’s Office – 3336 8004 or 0439 761 416
12 November 2008
The figures are from a Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre report released this week.
“This expenditure accounts for approximately 28 per cent of total tourist spending across the State,” Ms Boyle said.
“Direct spending by tourists for whom visiting a National Park is a key feature of their trip, is more than $749 million per annum, and contributes around $345 million to gross state product per annum.
“The report was a two-year pilot project and is part of an Australia-wide initiative, National Atlas, detailing the economic impact of tourism to national parks.
“What it found was national park visitor expenditure included accommodation in hotels, motels, travel (including air fares, bus fares, car hire and fuel), dining at restaurants and local shopping.”
Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara said the EPA spent $27 million as a direct contribution to tourism-related products and services and a further $40 million indirectly.
“The research demonstrates that this investment in Queensland’s parks and forests is returned many-fold to Queenslanders,” he said.
Minister Boyle said it came as no surprise Queensland’s environment had such an appeal with domestic and international visitors in regions such as Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Tropical North Queensland and the Sunshine Coast.
“The report highlighted all Queensland regions greatly benefit from national park-related tourism with a mix of intrastate, inter-state and international visitors lining up to see the natural attractions,” she said.
“At the Gold Coast, visitor spending relating to national parks was calculated to be $680 million while in Tropical North Queensland it was just over $1.3 billion.
“Visitors to national parks of Queensland’s central west spent $23 million and visitors to Lark Quarry near Winton spent almost $60 million.”
Ms Boyle said Queensland tourism operators were positioned to capitalise on the growing trend towards nature-based tourism activities.
“Last financial year more than two million domestic visitors to Queensland participated in a nature based activity while in Queensland,” she said.
“Similarly, 1.4 million international visitors to Australia who participated in nature-based activities visited Queensland.
“We are encouraging people to come and experience the natural wonders of Queensland and through the further development of our nature-based visitor experiences we will be able to educate our visitors about our environment and what we all can do to preserve it for generations to come.”
Mr McNamara said the report highlighted the importance of one of the Toward Q2 initiatives - Green Queensland which encouraged Queenslanders and visitors alike to work together to look after our environment.
He said the Bligh Government had set targets to further protect Queensland’s lifestyle and natural environment from the pressures of a growing population and climate change and would protect 50 per cent more areas as National Park towards that aim.
The Director of Research at Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, David Simmons said the research highlighted the value of national parks for visitors.
“All of our research on nature-based tourism across Australia indicates that access to national parks and the opportunities for enjoyment, activities and education found they are a cornerstone of the Australian visitor experience,” he said.
Ms Boyle said the $70,000 Valuing tourism spend arising from visitation to Queensland National Parks report detailing the contribution National Park visitors make to Queensland’s economy was jointly funded by Tourism Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency and the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.
*Note to editors:
• The report does not detail the overall contribution National Parks make to Queensland’s economy, such as flow on affects and day trips.
• The term National Park-associated spending refers to all direct tourist spending by those who included a visit to a national park as part of their itinerary whilst the terms National Park generated funding refers to the part of total tourist spending that can be attributed to the existence of and accessibility to the national parks.
Ends
Media contact:
Tourism Minister’s Office - 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Sustainability Minister’s Office – 3336 8004 or 0439 761 416
12 November 2008