15 September 2008

Queensland tourism crisis is looming

A Queensland Sunday Mail article says tourism operators face ruin if they keep relying too much on catchy slogans and jingles to attract foreign visitors, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle warns.

In a hard-hitting reality check, Ms Boyle said sweeping changes were needed and the industry must look at new ways to reverse plummeting visitor rates.

Some of the state's best-known tourist regions have seen drops of up to nearly 20 per cent in traditional visitor numbers due to a toughening economy and rising fuel prices.

The bad weather last summer also turned off many domestic holidaymakers.

"If we get a repeat of last summer, there will no doubt be casualties," Ms Boyle said.

"For many operators, they just can't afford two bad seasons in a row."

She said "Australia has lost its mojo" as a tourist destination and Queensland had to recognise that the needs of travellers had changed.

"We need to strengthen the products and infrastructure we have and find ways to create new products and attractions to entice international visitors back to Queensland," she said.

The minister last week released a plan for seven new tourism "zones" over the state's existing 14 tourism regions to generate new ideas.

The zones are Outback, Tropics, Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef Islands, Coral Coast, Sunshine and Fraser Coasts, Brisbane and SEQ Country, and Gold Coast and Hinterland.

Ms Boyle said: "We've had operators who have not been members of regional tourism groups with nowhere to go for advice or financial assistance."

"These new zones will allow anyone in the industry the chance to bid for funding and should hopefully encourage regional tourism organisations to come up with fresh ideas."

"They will essentially be running their own agenda."

New figures show international tourism has declined 2.8 per cent across the state.

The biggest declines have occurred in attracting Japanese (down 16 per cent), British (11 per cent) and American (6 per cent) visitors.

STA Travel Tokyo marketing manager Juichi Kitazawa said the economic downturn had forced travellers to rethink Queensland and Australia.

He said Japanese had already visited Queensland and didn't want to spend on something they had already seen.

"Japanese people still want to travel to Australia, but they're wondering what is new," he said.

The brightest news in the figures, released last week, revealed a growing Chinese market, with the sector seeing 54 per cent growth for some north Queensland resorts.

Also up were visits to Queensland from New Zealanders (16 per cent rise) and Indians (33 per cent).

A Report by The Mole