Palaszczuk government funds road map to increasing dinosaur tourism in outback QLD

Government funding is expected to push dinosaur tourism to become a unique selling point for regional areas and for the whole of Queensland.

Australian Age of Dinosaurs exhibit at Winton in Central Queensland. Credit: Jack harlem

Dinosaur based tourism is expected to grow in outback Queensland as the State Government commits close to $500,000 over three years.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the government would use the funding to develop a road map to growing dinosaur tourism, which would help to boost the region’s tourism industry in years to come.

“Outback Queensland is one of the best places in the world to have a dinosaur experience,” she said.

“Some of Australia’s most significant dinosaur discoveries have been made in Queensland in recent years.

“We want to capitalise on demand for unique tourism experiences in the future – that’s what our road map will help us achieve.

“We’ll work with the tourism industry to develop a strategy to promote the outback as the world’s leading destination for dinosaur tourism.

“This will help us to grow the outback tourism sector and support local jobs in the future which is an important part of our plan for economic recovery.”

The central west boasts one of the most popular exhibits across the state, at Winton’s Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the road map would allow operators to collectively promote dinosaurs as a unique selling point to travellers.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited towns in western Queensland, including Longreach on Tuesday, May 4.

“Outback Queensland has multiple dinosaur-based attractions spread throughout its communities, which combined account for an estimated 11 per cent of all tourism – or almost 122,000 visitors – and 26 per cent of leisure tourism visitors to the region,” he said.

“Add to this that due to the remote location of most dinosaur attractions, visitors often visit several communities when on an Outback Queensland trip, particularly if they are on a drive holiday.

“This road map will provide operators in the palaeontology tourism space a clear strategy and unified approach to promote and grow these natural history experiences over the next three years and beyond.

“By capitalising on this opportunity, we expect to grow tourism demand and see visitation increase, directly benefiting Outback Queensland tourism and the many communities encompassed by the region.”

Tourism and Events Queensland chief executive officer Leanne Coddington said the strategy was the culmination of years of work by government and industry.

“There are many dinosaur attraction operators who have been working hard for several years on developing dinosaur tourism in the region and the launch of this strategy has been borne in part from their insights and learnings,” Ms Coddington said.

“There are many and varied dinosaur attractions across Outback Queensland, such as the Eromanga Natural History Museum, Australian Age of Dinosaurs, Kronosaurus Korner or Muttaburrasaurus Interpretation Centre, to name just a few.

“This road map is the first of many steps in allowing us to promote all these experiences under the one umbrella of ‘Outback Queensland dinosaur tourism’ to the world.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the plan was to eventually see dinosaur tourism become not just a unique selling point for Outback Queensland, but for the whole of Queensland.