Lonely Planet names Scenic Rim holiday hot spot in 2022

Travel bible Lonely Planet names Queensland’s Scenic Rim as one of the world’s hottest holiday spots for 2022.

International travel bible Lonely Planet has named Queensland’s Scenic Rim as one of the world’s hottest holiday spots for next year.

The lush southeast Queensland region, home to the World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforests, is the only Australian destination listed in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2022 guide.

Scenic Rim tourism, business and civic leaders are over the moon at the prestigious listing after the region was hit by the double-whammy of the devastating 2019 bushfires followed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The influential travel guide publisher gave the Scenic Rim glowing praise, saying it had bounced back from the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires with a raft of new attractions and was primed to become ‘one of Australia’s low-impact tourism power players’.

“It’s such an untouched and diverse eco-based Australian destination,” Lonely Planet’s Chris Zeiher said.

Kay Tommerup celebrates as Queensland's Scenic Rim named one of the world’s hottest destinations for 2022 by leading global travel authority Lonely Planet. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“From the amazing food and wine to the incredible rainforest and bush walks and memorable places to stay, this is an unexpected pocket of Australia that has it all.

“The thing that has struck me about the Scenic Rim are its people. The hospitality you’ll experience is off-the-scale … the community will invite you in and make you feel like a part of the family.

“It’s a region that’s a shining example of a connected community that’s been forced to innovate in the face of serious adversity such as drought, fire and more recently Covid travel restrictions.”

Lonely Planet highlighted attractions including the Scenic Rim’s six national parks, Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, the new Scenic Rim Trail by Spicers, Nightfall Wilderness Camp and Mt Barney Lodge.

Summer Land Camels, the Scenic Rim Farm Box, Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm were spotlighted for showcasing local produce, while boutique wineries, craft breweries, farm stays and local characters also received honourable mentions.

The Scenic Rim name was coined by eco-tourism pioneer Arthur Groom in 1930, three years before he co-founded Binna Burra which was partly-destroyed by the 2019 bushfires.

Binna Burra chairman Steve Noakes said the Lonely Planet accolade was ‘wonderful news’, noting that the bushfires had ironically given the region international exposure.

“The Scenic Rim brand has had a huge boost since the bushfires and the pandemic so it’s almost about turning adversity into opportunity,” he said.

Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen said the Lonely Planet recognition was a major coup ‘but not undeserved’ and would help draw even more visitors to the region.

The Scenic Rim shares top 10 travel spot billing with No. 1 destination Westfjords (Iceland), West Virginia (USA), Xishuangbanna (China), Kent’s Heritage Coast (UK), Puerto Rico (USA), Shikoku (japan), Atacama Desert (Chile), Vancouver Island (Canada) and Burgundy (France).