Plan to make events a $1.5 billion money-spinner for Queensland

As Queensland banks on major events to draw visitors to the state, the most-attended have been revealed — and some may surprise you.

TOURISM bosses want Queensland to become the events capital of the country, with the value of sport, festivals and conferences almost tripling in the past five years.

Earning just $300 million five years ago, events will pump more than $800 million into the Queensland economy this year. And tourism leaders are not prepared to stop there – with a goal of generating $1.5 billion each year by 2025.

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That still falls short of the $3 billion a year events reportedly deliver to New South Wales, but a southeast Queensland bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games and a growing calendar of blockbuster events could help the state take top billing within 15 years.

Tourism bosses are optimistic that the international SportAccord conference held on the Gold Coast last month could deliver more than $100 million worth of future events to the state, while cultural, music and science events are also on the rise.

Then there is the emergence of “bleisure” – a trend where people visit for a business event and then add on a day or two of recreation, sometimes joined by partners or family.

Despite the growing importance of other sectors, sport remains one of the biggest drivers for events travellers and Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones has enthusiastically backed bids to deliver a UFC blockbuster and NRL grand final to Brisbane.

Sporting events including the Townsville 400 have proven a major visitor drawcard. Picture: Mark Horsburgh

Outback tourism is also benefiting from a new amateur golf tour featuring a shot at $1 million for a hole-in-one at Mount Isa next month, while culture vultures are also catered for with next month’s Brisbane Festival set to become the biggest arts event in the country.

Brisbane Festival in September is one of Australia’s largest, attracting 1.1 million people to South Bank and the Brisbane CBD . The 2018 festival alone generated $38 million in gross economic value.

BIGSOUND music conference, also in September, is also expected to inject more than $3 million into the Brisbane economy, bringing more than 10,000 music lovers and industry movers and shakers to the city.

Fireworks at the Sunsuper Riverfire, part of the Brisbane Festival – one of Queensland’s most popular. (AAP/Steve Pohlner)

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said events could be one of Queensland tourism’s biggest drawcards.

“They drive visitation, they generate repeat visits, plus the exposure that is generated for a region or city hosting an event is often priceless,” he said.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the establishment of a dedicated business events program was already paying dividends for Australia, and particularly Queensland. “Since its launch just over a year ago, the Business Events Bid Fund Program has helped secure four events in Queensland,” he said.

“The knock-on effects of investing in these events will be felt for years to come, with business events travellers known to be more likely to extend their visit to regional areas and return for a holiday in the future.”

Blues on Broadbeach was Queensland’s best-attended music festival last year. Picture: Michelle Grace Hunder

Tourism and Events Queensland chief executive Leanne Coddington said endurance events, including marathons and triathlons, were a shining example of how the state could deliver events better than anywhere else.

“The endurance events are things that we can really own and we’ve done some really great work with Ironman Asia Pacific in relation to hosting quite a number of events in their calendar and we have the best backdrop to those events,” she said.

“People love them here and they sell out in no time.”

Queensland’s top events are a mix of sport and culture, with the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers – consistently rated the top tourism event in the country – last year drawing about 250,000 visitors.

Sport (the Gold Coast 600 and Townsville 400 Supercars races), music (Blues on Broadbeach and Woodford Folk festival) and science (World science Festival and Curiocity) were also huge draws for the Queensland tourism industry.