Andrew Burnes, head of the AOT Group, one of Australia's leading wholesale and inbound travel distribution businesses, has said Queensland tourism is still struggling and lags behind other states in what he describes as a "two-speed" economy.

Mr Burnes said that Sunlover Holidays, the brand with which AOT sells Queensland, had fallen further behind in comparison to last year while much of the rest of Australia had improved.

“We are seeing some destinations in Australia go gangbusters,” Mr Burnes said. “Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria are certainly stronger than Queensland.”

Mr Burnes did not want to elaborate on the reasons behind the difficulties Queensland is having in attracting tourists.

He added that while AOT has experienced a decline in leisure arrivals, there has been an increase in business related travel.

This is further evidence that Far North Queensland must position itself to take advantage of non-traditional tourism markets in order to supplement any falls in leisure travel.

Tourism Queensland's media department were unavailable to discuss their take on the current environment.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on what needs to happen to return Queensland to its rightful place at the top of the tourism tree.

Editors Comments: It's nice to know that a leading member from the wholesaler fraternity upon which the government tourism bodies shower most of our money is now 'bagging' us out.  I know what I'd do when the next spending round comes up for review.  What we need is a bit of encouragement by wholesalers like AOT by getting us some bookings to justify why we're wasting so much money on them.  Maybe they are making these comments because it is they who are behind the times and it's just sour grapes 'cos they are losing so much business to direct consumer sites!