Queenslanders urged to holiday at home to kickstart struggling tourism industry

Queenslanders are being urged to enjoy their own backyard in an unprecedented push to kickstart the state’s tourism industry. If just 5 per cent of us answer the call, it would inject $100 million into tourism coffers and shore up thousands of jobs.

IT’S a call to arms for the Queensland tourism industry.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will today launch an unprecedented appeal for Queenslanders to take a Sunshine State holiday to kickstart a tourism industry battered by bushfires, crippling drought, flooding rains and the dark cloud of the coronavirus.

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Even if just 5 per cent of Queensland’s 5 million residents answer the call, it would inject an extra $100 million into the state’s tourism coffers ahead of a traditionally busy Easter holiday period that can’t come quick enough for operators reeling from the extraordinary string of disasters.

The coronavirus alone is forecast to wipe almost $2 billion from the state’s tourism industry as China, our biggest international market, remains the subject of a total travel ban while the outbreak threatens to spiral into a global pandemic.

Laura Geitz, Jeff Horn, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Alastair McLeod want Queenslanders to holiday at home. Picture: Luke Marsden

As the State Government launches a $2 million ad campaign to lure southerners across the Queensland border, The Sunday Mail can reveal Ms Palaszczuk has also written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, asking his Government to match Queensland’s contribution of $27.25 million for a tourism recovery package.

Ms Palaszczuk said the drastic situation required a drastic response.

“The coronavirus outbreak is having a big impact on our tourism industry – thousands of bookings have already been lost throughout the state,” she said.

“In terms of the economic impact, the novel coronavirus is a disaster like any cyclone, fire or flood.

“The best thing everyone can do to help out is to holiday here in Queensland.

“That’s why I’ve taken immediate action – launching this extensive advertising blitz throughout Australia to boost our domestic visitor numbers in 2020.”

Official tourism data for the October quarter will be released in coming weeks and while it is predicted to show a downturn caused by drought and bushfires in regional communities, those effects are expected to pale in comparison to the influence of the coronavirus, which has completely shut down Queensland’s biggest market of China virtually overnight.

Chinese visitors, including tourists and travellers on student visas, were last year worth more than $1.5 billion to the Queensland economy.

Those numbers will be decimated this year.

However, industry leaders are taking optimism from the fact domestic markets still make up the vast majority of the state’s $25 billion in annual tourism revenue.

If only 5 per cent of the state’s population booked a weekend away, it would generate an estimated $100 million for the Queensland tourism industry.

But tourism leaders hope fears over the coronavirus, which has caused thousands of holiday-makers to rethink international travel plans, could have an unexpected silver lining by inspiring them to instead take a longer break within Queensland, such as a week in the Whitsundays, a dive adventure to the Great Barrier Reef or a road trip through the outback.

The Premier’s call comes with a tourism advertising blitz encouraging Aussies to “holiday here” hitting TV screens across Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

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Ms Palaszczuk said 10 million people had already seen the ads.

Television ads are running on free-to-air channels, with a subscription service campaign, including ads on Foxtel, set to start next month.

“We live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We’re up for sharing that with the rest of Australia,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“These latest TV ads highlight Queensland’s beaches, reef holidays and world-class events calendar.

“A new partnership with Virgin Australia and special airfare deals are also being promoted.”

The bronze statue of Johnathan Thurston has been unveiled at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Ms Palaszczuk also called on the Federal Government to come to the table.

“Federal support would not only double the value of tourism marketing; it would allow us to provide a $2000 resilience grant for up to 8700 small businesses across impacted areas,” she said.

“And it would trigger $700,000 in export grants for small-to-medium enterprises, allowing them to travel to China and reconnect with key partners once the borders re-open.

“I am still waiting for his (Mr Morrison’s) reply.

“I know that Queenslanders are relying on State and Federal governments to work together, to see us through this period of uncertainty.”

Tourism Minister Kate Jones.

Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the campaign would deliver a great shot in the arm for businesses that were struggling.

“We want more southerners to head north in 2020, so we’re showing them why they should holiday here,” she said.

“We are the only government that has delivered urgent funding to support Queensland’s economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.”

Ms Jones said the rollout of the campaign on television followed high-profile advertising in key capital city locations, digital advertising and retail partnerships driving holiday bookings.

“This campaign comes on top of major international marketing that we’re delivering in key markets outside of China,” she said.

“We’re targeting markets where we know visitors are ready to travel to Queensland.

“We’re also encouraging tourism businesses across the state to get on board with the campaign and use the tagline ‘it’s a beautiful place to holiday here’.”

TOURISM THE LIFEBLOOD OF QUEENSLAND

TOURISM employs more than 235,000 people and pumps more than $27 billion into the Queensland economy.

In regional areas, tourism employs 105,700 people, or one in nine jobs. In tourist meccas such as Cairns, it’s one in five jobs. In the Whitsundays, one in three.

But it’s an industry reeling from fires, floods and the global impact of coronavirus. It’s an industry that needs your help.

More importantly, it’s the people, our fellow Queenslanders, running boat tours of the Great Barrier Reef or wineries in the Scenic Rim, that need our help.

They need us to holiday at home, starting with Easter.

This week The Sunday Mail and The Courier-Mail, plus News Corp Australia mastheads in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, will kick-start the call to action.

Queenslanders, our tourism operators need you.

Book your next holiday in Queensland. Our state has so much to offer and this year it needs you more than ever.