Queensland holiday deals: New campaign offers dirt cheap tourism experiences

Queensland tourism operators are dropping more incredible holiday deals this week for as little as $1. Here’s an early look at the next deal available on Tuesday.

“JAW-DROPPING” holiday deals for as little as $1 are up for grabs as part of a new campaign encouraging Queenslanders to holiday at home and support tourism operators.

Whale watching tours at Hervey Bay, Village Roadshow theme parks passes and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway experiences in Cairns will be among the dirt cheap deals run by Tourism and Events Queensland, in partnership with News Corp’s Queensland mastheads.

The second hot offer in Tourism and Events Queensland’s “20 Days of Holidays Like This” campaign will be 100 Village Roadshow Locals One Passes for $3 each, available at Queensland.com/holidayslikethis from 9am on Tuesday.

The unlimited theme park passes allow entry to Paradise Country, which is set to open a new meerkat exhibit, as well as Movie World, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild, and are valid for 12 months.

Meerkats at Paradise Country on the Gold Coast will soon have a new enclosure. Picture: Nigel Hallett

A limited number of 100 whale watching tours at Hervey Bay for $1 sold out on Monday morning.

For those that missed out, the “20 Days of Holidays Like This” campaign will showcase hot daily deals from Monday to Thursday and an incredible getaway competition each weekend over the next month.

Deals will be promoted in The Courier-Mail, Gold Coast Bulletin, Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin and Toowoomba Chronicle, and the new Friday editions of the Sunshine Coast Daily and Mackay Daily Mercury.

Operators are also posting new deals regularly at Queensland.com/holidayslikethis.

Humpback whales at Hervey Bay on Queensland's Fraser Coast. Picture: Tracy Farr / Tourism and Events Queensland

TEQ chief executive officer Leanne Coddington said the campaign was unlike any other.

“We really want to show Queenslanders more of the state they can explore, and the concept of offering jaw-dropping deals, or money-can’t-buy prize giveaways, is a compelling reason to prompt people into booking something they may only previously have dreamed of – or not known existed at all,” she said.

“We are so lucky to have internationally-renowned tourism experiences right on our doorstep and the best part is these deals can be booked now or for future travel, allowing for flexibility in planning.

“Queenslanders have been incredible in supporting their local tourism industry over the past 18 months, however we know there’s still plenty more to see and experience.

“Inspiring stories of our history and a chance to learn about our culture, getting out onto the reef with the kids, driving the Outback and seeing ancient dinosaurs, or reconnecting with family and friends at the beach, there are truly so many options to explore right across Queensland.

“I encourage Queenslanders to get in early each day for the next four weeks to nab those deals – but if you miss out, there will be plenty of other great-value deals on offer through Queensland.com that can be booked now.”

The campaign comes at the perfect time for Hervey Bay on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, which is living up to its billing as the home of humpback whale encounters.

Whale encounters at Hervey Bay. Picture: Fraser Coast Tourism and Events

Local tour operators say they are seeing more whales every day as migration season, from July to early November, reaches the halfway mark.

Whales use the protection of Hervey Bay to rest for up to 10 days during their migration from the Antarctic to the northern tropics.

Boat operators in the world’s first whale heritage site, 3.5 hours north of Brisbane, are now relying on Queensland visitors with borders closed to NSW and Victorian tourists.

“We’re really feeling the lack of New South Wales and Victorian clients,” Tasman Venture’s owner Robyn Burgess said.

“Since southeast Queensland opened up again visitor numbers have improved. We’ve got one person here at the moment coming out every day for a week because it’s just such a special, rare experience where whales get so close to you.

“We have mothers and their calves coming into the bay at the moment, and the mothers are letting their calves come up to the boat. You can tell they trust us.

“We’ve been doing this for 32 years and over that time the whales have become far more relaxed around us.”