Queensland's tourism industry is under threat from the mining boom according to farmers and environmentalists who say that open-cut mines and other operations are proposed right across the state.

Drew Hutton from Friends of the Earth said it is Queensland's popular holiday destinations and food bowl area that are most at risk, and included coal seam gas projects at coastal areas near Maryborough, Bundaberg, Yeppoon and the Whitsunday Islands, and a number of coal mines considered near Hervey Bay where whale-watching is a tourist attraction.

‘‘Having mines on top of some of the state’s most pristine areas isn’t going to help tourism promotion with all that visual and air pollution,’’ Mr Hutton told The Age recently.

A recent media release from the Queensland Government talked of their commitment to regional Queensland.

“The increased funding (to promote country living) is another example of the Bligh Government’s commitment to growth in rural and regional Queensland and making our regions attractive for Queenslanders to live, work and raise families,” the statement read.

‘‘They’ll be downwind of many thousands of hectares of mines," Mr Hutton said of people moving to these areas.