Gladstone poised to bounce back after losing $25m in tourism

‘Don’t discount our region as a destination to holiday in,’ says GAPDL.

GAPDL chief executive Gus Stedman says despite tourism suffering a hit of more than $25 million, Gladstone is poised to bounce back.

TOURISM operators have suffered a hip pocket hit in excess of $25 million but Gladstone is poised to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, says the GAPDL.

The tourism body’s chief executive Gus Stedman said the announcement of the three-stage rollback on health restrictions signalled exciting times ahead.

“GAPDL are excited to see local businesses reopening from Friday if they decide it will be a viable proposition under the restrictions,” he said.

“We are very hopeful that businesses that do open all trade strongly on reopening and we encourage all residents to support local businesses where possible.”

In anticipation of the rollback, the GAPDL has been hard at work in the background.

“We anticipated a staged rollback of restrictions and we have been planning a campaign to highlight the local tourism operators and accommodation venues, which will be launched early June, to allow our local people time to a book an awesome experience,” Mr Stedman said.

He said all locals should take advantage of what the region has to offer.

“Our members will be invited to join our campaign to promote the region in the next two weeks and we hope the community get out and about and enjoy our backyard as we have some great natural attractions in our region,” he said.

“Don’t discount our region as a destination to holiday in, we have some spectacular beaches like Agnes Water, 1770, the beauty of the Boyne Valley and the southern Great Barrier Reef.”

Gladstone Regional Council has developed the Gladstone Region Visitor Economy Strategy 2025 to align with local, regional and state strategies to ensure a co-ordinated approach to tourism.

Growing at about 3.4 per cent per annum, the Gladstone region is predicted to reach about 548,000 overnight visitors in 2022, with a total overnight tourism expenditure of $326 million.

By 2025, this continued growth is expected to generate 585,000 overnight visitors, with a total overnight expenditure of $348 million.

In November 2019, council also launched the Gladstone Regional Recreational Vehicle Strategy aimed at attracting recreational vehicle owners to the region.