PREMIER'S SPEECH - DESTINATIONQ FORUM GOLD COAST

It’s great to be back on the Gold Coast.

And great to be here at DestinationQ.

A couple of weeks ago, I was here for the opening of the new Langham Hotel, part of the much-anticipated Jewel development.

Reflected in the Jewel, is a city buzzing with opportunity.

As I said that night, this is a city that can host the Commonwealth Games one minute and be a part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games events the next.

From the TV Week Logie Awards, the Gold Coast Marathon, to just last weekend, the Gold Coast 500 and then of course there’s Schoolies coming up, it’s a place Australia has always come to party.

But also to where the world now comes to invest.

This morning, I was back at the Langham Hotel with the Tourism Minister and Assistant Minister with tourism investors as part of Destination Q to showcase just how great this city is.

And it’s brought a new sophistication to the Gold Coast and that sophistication is spreading right across the state.

This is incredibly important in our post COVID recovery and as we look towards 2032.

I want to thank everyone of you in this room for your resilience over the past couple of years - some of the most difficult and challenging this industry has ever faced.

But we stood shoulder to shoulder with you.

We delivered more than $1.1 billion in support to our State’s tourism, events and hospitality industries.

We helped fill more than 3,500 gaps in the tourism and hospitality industries from our Work in Paradise program.

And through our $200 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, we boosted traveler confidence, by increasing aviation routes.

Securing several new routes for Queensland including Jetstar, Scoot, Air Canada and United Airlines flights between:

• Tokyo and the Gold Coast
• Singapore and the Gold Coast
• Haneda and Brisbane
• Vancouver and Brisbane
• And San Francisco and Brisbane – which arrived to much fanfare over the weekend.

 We’ve also welcomed back important returned routes, including:

• Los Angeles to Brisbane (Qantas),
• Singapore to Brisbane (Singapore Airlines),
• Auckland to Cairns
• and Auckland to Gold Coast (Air New Zealand). 

All of this support and with your help, steered us through to where we are today.

And I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say, isn’t it great to see people travelling again!

While we can’t expect to return to our pre-COVID success overnight, we are well and truly on our way.

Our tourism sector has now grown to over $16.8 billion, almost 60 per cent of the industry’s pre-COVID contribution to our economy.

In the year to June, Queensland celebrated record domestic Overnight Visitor Expenditure.

In total domestic tourists spent $19.6 billion – up 1.1 per cent compared to the pre-COVID period.

And our share of domestic tourism spend tops the nation at 28.5 per cent.

That’s three and 10 per cent higher than NSW and Victoria, respectively.

And I am advised that six Queensland regions had record-breaking Overnight Visitor Expenditure, including:

• Tropical North Queensland
• Sunshine Coast
• Southern Great Barrier Reef
• Whitsundays
• Southern Queensland Country
• Fraser Coast

In the June quarter, we also saw a spike in international visitors to Queensland.

Through this period, our State outperformed the national average for travelers from the UK, US and Singapore.

And there’s more good news to come.

Since it was launched in August, our Seize The Days campaign has has driven more than 200,000 visits to Queensland.com, sending more than 50,000 leads to industry.

We expect this campaign will bring in 6.7 million visitors, spending $4.4 billion.

And with new tourism offerings this year like:

• The Langham: Gold Coast
• Wonder Reef dive attraction: Gold Coast
• The Crocodile Hunter Lodge and cabins: Sunshine Coast
• The new Reef Magic pontoon: Far North Qld
• ‘Strait Experience’ – tours to the Torres Strait
• Rockhampton Museum of Art
• The Pavilions at Hayman Island: Whitsundays
• K’gari Salty Safaris
• And Hervey Bay Drive Centre overnight expedition on the Southern Great Barrier Reef

Visitors can expect a lot when they come.

And that’s not even all of them.

I’m pleased to say that under the new leadership of our new CEO Patricia O’Callaghan, Tourism and Events Queensland will aim to deliver bigger and better campaigns to support Queensland’s rich tourism experiences in the new year.

Please join me in congratulating Trish on her new role.

*Round of applause

I also want to acknowledge and pay my respects to outgoing CEO Leanne Coddington finishing up next month after 25 years at TEQ – nine as CEO.

Leanne you have been everywhere and a source of inspiration and you have done amazing things for tourism and events in this state.

*Round of applause

While we’re focused on the short term and getting visitors back as quickly as possible – we’re also now focused on the long term.

This next decade to 2032 is going to be a defining time in Queensland’s history.

With ten years to go until we step out on the global stage for the biggest show in the world – Brisbane 2032 – we must be ready to showcase our state, our destinations, our unique experiences and services to the world.

Just for a moment think of that Olympic torch going right through the length and breadth of Queensland and how we have this enormous opportunity to showcase so many parts of our great state to the world.

That’s why today, I am launching Towards Tourism 2032, our 10-year tourism strategy which will transform our tourism sector and set us up to make the most of what being an Olympics and Paralympics host nation will bring.

This is our response to the Towards 2032 Final Action Plan released in June and I want to thank the independent Tourism Industry Reference Panel for their work on that.

I also want to thank you all here today for your input.

The Panel spoke directly with industry from small businesses, regional organisations and thought leaders to come up with 75 recommendations that could change the game for our state’s visitor economy.

Today’s plan is an outcome of that and a framework for government and industry to drive visitor economy growth over the next 10 years starting from today.

It also outlines an aspirational growth target in the decade ahead, increasing to $44 billion in overnight visitor expenditure by 2032.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe will share more about the Towards Tourism 2032 with Panel Chair Liz Savage later.

Part of that strategy is making sure Queensland is a destination for everyone.

Including people of all abilities.

A Tourism Research Australia survey prior to COVID found that 23 per cent of people with a disability thought of travel as ‘so stressful it’s just not worth it’.

That shouldn’t be the case.

Instead of being stressed, they should feel welcomed, accommodated, and supported.

That’s why today I’m proud to announce that 2023 will be declared the Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland.

As a State, we’ve previously celebrated the Year of Outback Tourism and the Year of Indigenous Tourism.

These campaigns triggered major interest and investment particularly in regional Queensland.

We hope to repeat that success again.

As part of this new campaign, our Government will deliver $12 million worth of programs to help our tourism industry become more adaptable and responsive.

• A $10 million Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund to help small and medium tourism businesses to enhance accessibility through technology and infrastructure.
• $1 million will be dedicated to an awareness and capability program including funding to stage accessible tourism events and support for employees with a disability.
• A further $1 million will be spent on promoting Queensland as a State with exceptional, and accessible, tourism experiences.

We will champion those tourism operators who cater for travelers of all abilities and we’ll partner with industry, to help travelers with a disability to develop itineraries.

We’ve already got a head start with the launch of an Accessible Tourism in Queensland project last year delivered in consultation with the Queensland Tourism Industry Council and relevant regional tourism organisations.

As part of the project, tourism infrastructure accessibility and tourism business capability was assessed in six Queensland tourism destinations:

• Brisbane and surrounds
• Gold Coast
• Sunshine Coast
• Hervey Bay and the Fraser Coast
• Townsville and the Outback, and
• Cairns and the surrounding region.

Assessments and suitable itineraries are due later this year.

In further good news, under the Year of Accessible Tourism we will further extend the project to another six tourism regions:

• Bundaberg
• Capricorn
• Gladstone
• Mackay
• Southern Queensland, and
• the Whitsundays

The project has been led by specialist travel agency TravAbility, and Australian-owned disability enterprise Get Skilled Access - founded by the 2022 Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott.

You’ll be hearing from Dylan’s brother, Zack Alcott who is a senior Engagement Consultant at Get Skilled Access later as part of the program.

Friends, can I just say how excited we all should be in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

These Games will elevate Queensland as a must-see, global destination.

Just think back to Barcelona, it was put on the international stage and these Games in 2032 have the exact same ability to propel this state into the international spotlight and cement our place on the world stage for tourism for not just years to come but decades to come.

They will deliver a boost in international tourism and trade – worth an estimated $4.6 billion for our State.

41,000 rooms have already been secured to host Games partners during Brisbane 2032.

And we know around 8000 Paralympians and officials are expected to attend the Games.

In conclusion, I thank each and everyone of you for the amazing work you do and the resilience that each and everyone of you have shown during two years where our whole world was turned upside down.

You all stepped up and we got through it.

And now what we’re seeing, is Queensland with such a strong economy, with the lowest unemployment rate that we have seen in our state but recognizing still that there are labour shortages and that we need to work with you, work with industry, work with the federal government and work with councils to overcome those obstacles.

But I know that our future is secure and our future is bright and you should be absolutely pleased and proud to live in a state that values everything that you do.

Queensland, our best days are ahead of us and tourism has such a bright future.

Thank you everyone, enjoy the next couple of days, it’s been a pleasure to open your conference here today.

ENDS