Virus recovery earns tourist hot spots top award

Two iconic locations in the region have been short-listed for national tourism awards for the way they recovered from the pandemic.

Nindigully Tourist and Visitor area, which has been nominated for Best Council Free Stay. Photo Credit: Sean Scott Photography.

Two iconic tourist locations west of Toowoomba have been short-listed for national awards, the 2020 Grey Nomad Awards, despite an endless list of challenges that brought the tourism industry in Queensland to a halt last year.

The Nindigully Visitor and Tourist Area, owned and maintained by Balonne Shire Council, is up for the Best Council Free Stay Award, while the privately owned and operated Dirranbandi Caravan Park and Retreat is short-listed for Best Small Commercial Park.

Judges praised council for using the COVID closure as an opportunity to market Nindigully in a “captivating” way through social media.

“We love that this outback destination punched so far above its weight during the coronavirus

lockdown,” the judges said.

“The tourism team created a highly innovative yet lighthearted campaign that featured a

cardboard Kylie Minogue meeting an equally stiff Hugh Jackman at Nindigully in a parody of a well-known Tourism Australia campaign.

“It was genius tourism marketing and out-of-the-box thinking that really appealed to grey nomads.”

Balonne Shire Council Mayor Samantha O’Toole said the success of the tourist parks came down to the dedication of staff and managers through what was a traumatic and unprecedented year.

“This time last year, our tourism industry was essentially shut down due to COVID-19, but they have bounced back in an extraordinary way and actually recouped visitor numbers so well that our region had record-breaking tourist numbers during late 2020,” she said.

The Balonne region’s bounce back from the shutdowns began when Queensland borders initially reopened last year.

In the final four months of the year, the region welcomed 5000 visitors – a stark increase from the same time the previous year.

A key criteria for the judging during the Grey Nomad Awards was “COVID-safety”.

Award Director Kim Morgan said it was important that element was included in the judging criteria.

“The COVID situation has meant that some older Australians felt uneasy about travelling in 2020, with health and safety becoming an even greater factor in their decision making,” she said.

“That is why the Grey Nomad Awards’ criteria focused on the actions that tourism operators,

caravan parks and campground managers took to make the lives of grey nomads happier, healthier and safer.

“In this way, the Awards are fostering a better lifestyle for over 50s by providing verified information that will guide their decisions on where to travel safely in 2021 and what to experience along the way”.