Brisbane tourism: Extended stays worth $18m a day

The capital of the Sunshine State is already a growing tourism drawcard, but there’s a simple way it could be making an extra $18 million a day.

TOURISM chiefs are cranking up a strategy to seize an $18 million-a-day lost opportunity by transforming the Brisbane region into one of the world’s must-visit destinations.

A Vision 2031 blueprint being developed by Brisbane Marketing forecasts that the number of visitors could swell from 7.8 million a year to 14 million.

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But crucially, much of the economic uplift would come from getting people who already travel through the city to stay longer, by offering them more to do and making it easier for them to get around and access activities.

It says the existing $8.8 billion a year generated by tourism can be boosted by an extra $6.5 billion a year by then.

Achieving the goal would more than double the current 65,000 jobs in the sector to 135,000 and lift Brisbane within striking distance of the 100 top 100 global cities for tourism.

“It’s really an exciting time for the city and surrounding region,” Brisbane Marketing tourism investment and industry development head Mark Olsen said.

The picturesque Brisbane skyline at sunset

Over $17 billion of infrastructure investment has been committed or proposed in the region between now and 2025, including Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro pubic transport, the new international cruise terminal, Queen’s Wharf casino-resort precinct, and the proposed Brisbane Live indoor arena and Toondah Harbour development in Redland.

Mr Olsen said Vision 2031 was intended to look beyond that injection of capital to try to understand how to set up the city for its next decade of success.

Almost 200 industry leaders gathered this week to thrash out priorities to guide the growth of the Greater Brisbane region’s appeal over that time.

Analysis comparing the city with the top 150 tourism cities around the world found visitors spent one and a half days in Brisbane on average.

And while 42 per cent of through traffic in Melbourne is converted to overnight stays, it is only 30 per cent in Brisbane.

“The fact we have visitors here and passing through and not staying provides the most obvious opportunity,” Mr Olsen said.

“On average across the domestic and international market, we’ve got a stay of around two and a half days and we’d like to increase that by a day.”

Reaching that level, would inject an additional $18 million a day into the local economy by 2031.

While the Queensland capital is a major gateway, Mr Olsen said: “Brisbane has not been focused on and dedicated to creating attractions and experiences.

“It’s been focused on other sectors of the economy, lifestyle and the typical customer has been a business traveller or people visiting friends and relatives and the leisure makes up a smaller part of the market.”

Now the challenge was to get tourists excited about what they could do in the city to extend their stay and explore the wider area.

Currently on 30 per cent of people visiting Brisbane do anything outside the CBD.

The region includes the Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan, Redland, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset council areas, but Mr Olsen said Brisbane Marketing was working in partnership with Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast to market the whole southeast corner.

“Visitors don’t recognise boundaries,” he said.

The Vision 2031 has identified four key areas of opportunity to generate the additional $6.5 billion a year in spending: new city-based attractions ($3.3 billion), hinterland activities ($1.2 billion), river-based options ($1 billion) and Moreton Bay ($1 billion).

Artist’s impression of the Queens Wharf development

“We have significant opportunity in food, we have a significant opportunity in nature and wildlife, heritage and culture,“ Mr Olsen said.

“There are so many things that we take for granted that we can help visitors appreciate about our region.”

At 8 per cent a year, tourism, Brisbane tourism is already growing faster than that of the overall Asia-Pacific.

But if industry leaders can get it to 9.5 per cent, the region would claim a spot in the top 100 tourism cities in the world.

About 180 industry figures met at the Lord Mayor’s tourism summit this week to brainstorm the way forward and set priorities.

“They were energised and optimistic about the future,” Mr Olsen said.

Lord Mayor and SEQ Council of Mayors chairman Adrian Schrinner said the vision was bringing the industry together to develop a shared strategy.

“It’s an exciting time for Brisbane, because the cornerstones of our tourism offering are becoming increasingly sought after from visitors, such as our spectacular natural environment, local culture and lifestyle experiences,” he said.

Brisbane tourism priorities

•Awareness: Need to collaborate across council boundaries to boost marketing of what the region has to offer

•Connectivity: Continued investment needed in transport so visitors and locals can move seamlessly between hubs, accommodation and experiences to enjoy the region

•Experiences: Promote existing activities including natural, cultural; and indigenous and add new attractions and accommodation to give people more to do and stay longer

•Innovation: Support new ventures and build confidence in further investment

•Welcoming: Locals and businesses to take a “Team Brisbane’’ approach to selling the benefits of the region.

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Originally published as Brisbane tourism: Extended stays worth $18m a day