NQ tourism spend spikes as industry waves goodbye to pandemic

Figures from North Queensland tourism operators are promising as industry heads discussed how they’ll turn Townsville into a tourism mecca.

Figures from North Queensland tourism operators are promising as industry figures meet on Thursday for an annual forum.

Spikes in domestic overnight visitor expenditure and domestic visitors to the region come on the back of a major data-driven tourism rebrand by Townsville Enterprise Limited (TEL).
Speaking at the Tourism Futures Forum on Thursday, TEL visitor economy and marketing director, Lisa Woolfe, said the tourism industry in NQ had thrived since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lisa Woolfe, TEL Director & Visitor Economy & Marketing, in front of the Viking Orion, the first major cruise ship to dock in Townsville since January 2020. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Domestic holiday visitor numbers jumped 20.5 per cent on pre-covid levels, Ms Woolfe said.

To the year ending September 2022, domestic overnight visitors spent a record $979.2m in the Townsville North Queensland region, up 24 per cent on pre-covid levels, she said.

“We are finally starting move to a time when we can stop comparing to 2019, but we are still very much aware that there are challenges ahead,” Ms Woolfe said.

International borders had only been reopened for a year, “aviation capacity” and pricing had not returned to normal and workforce shortages were still all headwinds for the industry, she said.

To the year ending September 2022, domestic overnight visitors spent a record $979.2 million in the Townsville North Queensland region, up 24 per cent on pre-covid levels.

“Health concerns are shifting to wealth concerns, with the rising cost of living and inflation on the up - the concerns of covid are in the past and the worries on making the mortgage payment, bills and fees are becoming real for many.”

Ms Woolfe also ran the luncheon through TEL’s latest marketing campaign, which used more than 200,000 data points, which among other things found there was a perception that the region was “a place to live, not to visit”.

“And whilst perception in the mind of our consumers is their reality – we have a huge opportunity to trigger a reappraisal and reposition Townsville North Queensland.”

Originally published as NQ tourism spend spikes as industry waves goodbye to pandemic