Qld crowned the nation’s No. 1 tourism drawcard for first time
Queensland’s tourism industry has been through the ringer but the Sunshine State has claimed a huge title that usually goes to NSW.
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Queensland has claimed the crown as Australia’s tourism capital for the first time in the clearest sign yet the state has smashed the shackles of the coronavirus pandemic.
New figures, to be released on Wednesday from Tourism Research Australia, show domestic visitor spending in Queensland for the year to March exceeded every other state, with Far North Queensland, the Whitsundays and Sunshine Coast breaking all-time records.
Queensland traditionally sits in third place behind NSW and Victoria and while 2020 was a write-off for much of the industry under the burden of border closures and travel restrictions, the past 12 months have shown just how strong the Sunshine State’s recovery has been in the face of intense competition.
Across much of the state, domestic visitors stayed longer and spent more in a $17.9 billion windfall for the state’s economy, a year after tourism had virtually stopped dead.
Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said Queenslanders had a played a huge role in rallying behind the state’s tourism operators.
“We owe our nation-leading tourism recovery to Queenslanders discovering the many world-class destinations our own backyard has to offer,” he said.
“Queensland’s unique visitor experiences are the envy of Australia and the world with so many breathtaking iconic attractions from the Great Barrier Reef to Outback dinosaurs found only in Queensland.”
In Cairns, decimated by the loss of international travel, domestic audiences generated an incredible revival with a record $3 billion for the Tropical North Queensland region – an increase of almost 20 per cent on 2019 figures.
Total numbers are still expected to be below 2019 due to the absence of international visitors for most of the year, but Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chair Ken Chapman said the results were extraordinary.
“Many Australians are discovering just how spectacular the Great Barrier Reef and the world’s oldest rainforest are for the first time and they are blown away that Cairns is a cosmopolitan tropical city with accommodation, food and beverage offerings equal to those in our capital cities,” he said.
The Whitsundays has been another outstanding success story as holiday-makers turn to the region in record numbers.
Tourism Whitsundays CEO Rick Hamilton said the 844,000 visitors was 33 per cent more than in 2019 with total spending soaring beyond $1.1 billion for the first time.
“It’s a fantastic result,” he said.
“The Whitsundays is the nearest thing to an overseas destination we have in Australia so we’ve really hit the sweet spot.”
The Sunshine Coast set a spending record of almost $3 billion, 5.7 per cent more than in 2019.
Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Matt Stoeckel said the region had been an outstanding success story through the most challenging period in modern history.
“The Sunshine Coast was able to show its resilience during the pandemic when we were able to market very successfully to southeast Queensland, and then when borders opened we saw substantial increases in interstate visitors,” he said.
“The region has the advantages of easy accessibility and a reputation for our natural attractions, which have clearly resonated in this difficult travelling era.”
The Southern Great Barrier Reef was another success story with the region encompassing Bundaberg and the islands of Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave, recording a 5 per cent increase on 2019 with almost $1.3 billion in visitor spending.
The Granite Belt and Scenic Rim carried on the strong growth of the past two years with visitor spending of more than $800 million – a 10 per cent jump on 2019.
The Gold Coast also saw some figures higher than pre-Covid levels, with average visitor spending of $959 per person almost 10 per cent higher than in 2019.
Overall, the Gold Coast domestic tourism market is back to 95 per cent of pre-Covid levels in an encouraging sign for the state’s biggest holiday destination.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said there were still challenges ahead but the results were “a promising sign that recovery is well underway”.
The strong growth comes as the State government opens the cheque book with a $15 million fund to encourage the development of new visitor attractions.
Grants of up to $200,000 will be available for new tourism projects with “high growth potential” and will represent up to 25 per cent of a venture’s total cost.
QUEENSLAND: A TOURISM TALE
(domestic visitors for the year to March 31)
Total visitors: 20.8m
Total overnight visitor expenditure (OVE): $17.9b (NO. 1 NATIONALLY)
Tropical North Qld (OVE): $3b (NEW RECORD)
Sunshine Coast (OVE): $2.9m (NEW RECORD)
Whitsundays (OVE): $1.1b (NEW RECORD)
Southern Great Barrier Reef (OVE): $1.3b (5 per cent higher than 2019)
Southern Qld Country (OVE): $807.8m (10 per cent higher than 2019)
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