Hey Big Spender – in Queensland
One in every four tourist dollars spent in Australia is spent in Queensland, says QLD Tourism Minister Margaret Keech, adding that Queensland contributed almost $17 billion of the total $64 billion national spend by domestic and international visitors.
“Tourism Research Australia’s report, Travel expenditure by Domestic and International Visitors in Australia’s Regions, shows Queensland has enjoyed massive growth in visitor expenditure,” she says.
“That’s great news because more tourists spend more, and more spending means more jobs for Queenslanders in regional Queensland”, adding that “domestic overnight expenditure in Queensland totalled almost $10 billion – an increase of 5.7% on the previous year”.
“Domestic visitors to the Gold Coast spent $2.8 billion, Brisbane accounted for $1.7 billion, the Sunshine Coast $1.5 billion, Tropical North Queensland $1.3 billion and the Whitsundays $425 million,” she said. “These regions collectively accounted for three-quarters of Queensland’s total overnight visitor expenditure.
The report also revealed strong international visitor expenditure in 2004, with tourists spending $2.7 billion.
International expenditure in Queensland increased by 9.3% between 2003 and 2004, well above the 6.1% national increase over the period.
Spending was concentrated in tropical north Queensland, with a total of $802 million, Brisbane with $695 million, the Gold Coast $669, Sunshine Coast $144 million and $137 million for the Whitsunday region.
Keech says research reveals that of all the developed Queensland regions, tropical north Queensland and the Sunshine Coast experienced the greatest international spending growth – each up 12.5%.
“This information helps us tailor marketing campaigns and it is also exciting to have a dollar figure of what tourism is worth to our regions,” she says, “And it shows just how important regional Queensland is to the state’s economy.”
Keech says the Beattie Government is determined to increase the state’s market share and points to the recently launched Queensland Tourism Strategy – a 10-year blueprint for the tourism industry.
Report by The Mole
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