Queensland frets over long term cost of floods
The CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, Daniel Gschwind, says while the floods could cost the tourism industry $100 million the perceptual damage could be even greater.
“We don’t know how many perception issues we will have to deal with, with people from interstate or possibly overseas concluding that going to Queensland is not a good idea, despite the fact that our major tourism destinations are perfectly fine and open for business,” Gschwind told AAP .
Although vast areas remain under water, the majority of the state’s holiday destinations are unaffected and open for business.
Brisbane, the Gold, Sunshine and Fraser coasts, the Southern Downs, Toowoomba, Mackay, the Whitsundays, Townsville and tropical north Queensland are all accessible
“We are very worried people will draw the wrong conclusion and assume the entire state of Queensland is somehow under water,” Gschwind said.
“We are a perception-driven industry and that often causes us more damage than the actual event, and that’s a great concern to us.”
Gschwind said Queensland has 19 airports and only one is closed, and all three international airports are operating as normal.
The difficulty, he says, is to get the message out that while the flood disaster is serious and businesses in the impact zones are suffering greatly, the majority of the state’s tourism hot spots are unaffected.
By TravelMole Australia
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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