Toowoomba’s Queensland Country Tourism body unveils rebrand, to build on $1.6bn visitor spend in 2023-24

After helping to delivering a record $1.6bn visitor expenditure in 2023-24, the body representing the Toowoomba and Darling Downs’ tourism industry hopes a rebrand will help it build on three years of continued growth.

Toowoomba’s major tourism body is hoping a significant rebrand and official name change will build on the sector’s $1.6bn contribution to the region’s economy.

Queensland Country Tourism, previously called Southern Queensland Country Tourism, unveiled its new look and brand at a major event at Toowoomba’s Gabbinbar Homestead on Tuesday.

Featuring the tagline “everyone needs a little country”, the refresh comes just a few weeks after the organisation said the local tourism industry had reported 12 quarters of continued growth.

Chief executive Peter Homan said the growth in domestic patronage had been driven by visitors’ desire for experiences they couldn’t get on the Gold Coast or in Far North Queensland, particularly around the country lifestyle and nature-based tourism.

Unveiling the new branding for Queensland Country Tourism at Gabbinbar Homestead are chief executive Peter Homan (left), deputy chair Louise Sturgess and chair Geoff McDonald.

“We’ve had 12 good, really good quarters in a row and our latest figures show $1.6bn overnight visitor expenditure number – that’s a record for this region, so we continue to grow,” he said.

“Tourism in general is soft right across the board, the cost of living pressures are starting to bite, but in this region, that country part is really what’s driving the growth in our region.

“People are coming for wide open spaces, beautiful night skies, great parks and gardens walks – they’re the things that are driving people.

“We really want more nature based experiences and we have it in droves, so Queensland Country rarely epitomises all of it.”

A strong indicator in the latest figures, released earlier this month for the year ending June 2024, has been the growth in holiday visitation, which is up 6.3 per cent (nearly 1.1 million people).

In total, three million people visited the Queensland Country region for family, business or pleasure during the previous financial year, spending on average $550 each during their trip.

QCT chair and Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald said the region was currently one of the best-performing areas in Queensland and deserved further attention from the newly-elected LNP government.

Unveiling the new branding for Queensland Country Tourism at Gabbinbar Homestead are chief executive Peter Homan (centre), deputy chair Louise Sturgess and chair Geoff McDonald.

“Our research shows that the country is what people want, they want to experience the outdoors, the fresh air, the ability to go on walks in the bush at all – those things that people love and need an escape to,” he said.

“We’re sure that our relationship with what was the opposition will flow through now to government, and we’re looking forward to continuing those conversations to bring more funding into tourism, where the dollar multiplies very quickly, right across our region.

“There’s an ambitious target of $44bn from tourism by 2032 and our region can do some of that lifting.

“Our tourism operators are just waiting for it, and this branding will really motivate them and demonstrate to the LNP government that we are here to help them and we need a bit of support from them as well.”

While the international tourism market has remained modest for Queensland Country ($100m in 2023-24 from 52,000 visitors), Mr McDonald said the sector’s recent forays into Singapore would deliver results.

“We’ve just come back from Singapore and we’ve already got tours that are being booked right now into our region from Singapore,” he said.

“We are a desirable place to be and our strategy is quite clear – we exist to make sure that our tourism operators get the benefit of more visitation, and therefore the region benefits.”

Originally published as Toowoomba’s Queensland Country Tourism body unveils rebrand, to build on $1.6bn visitor spend in 2023-24