Why hundreds are flocking to Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum

Strong visitor numbers recorded at Fraser Coast military museum.

Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum director John Meyers. Photo: Alistair Brightman

MORE more than 970 visitors passed through the doors of the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum in April — a near record for the centre.

Museum director John Meyers said visitor numbers were already off to a good start for May, after 42 stopped by on Saturday, and 30 visited on Sunday.

Mr Meyers attributed the strong visitor numbers to Fraser Coast Tourism and Events’ marketing of the region, and to tourists choosing domestic travel destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A lot of people are coming to Maryborough who would not normally come here,” he said.

“When we ask visitors where they’re from, they’re coming from all over Queensland.

“Another thing that is going well for us is school tours — only on Thursday, April 29 we hosted St Helens State School, and on Friday, April 30 we had Bundaberg State High School.

“We’ve got over 100 museum volunteers in total … organising future tours and doing all the things you need to do in a museum like cleaning and organising displays.”

Mr Meyers said one of the reasons why the museum had proven so popular was because of the personal atmosphere museum staff had created.

“Our main aim was to represent the men and women who served more than the battles they fought in,” he said.

“The museum represents over 600 men and women with their medals or other memorabilia that’s on display.”

Mr Meyers said he expected the total number of visitors to the museum for 2021 would be about 10,000 people.

Originally published as Why hundreds are flocking to Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum