The following is and official release from Tourism Queensland written by Premier Anna Bligh.


Queensland’s tourism industry is officially fighting back from a disastrous summer, with details of the State and Federal Government’s $10 million post-flood and cyclone tourism assistance package announced yesterday (Wednesday).


I was very pleased to be joined by the Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business Jan Jarratt to outline the details of this innovative campaign. This will be one of the largest coordinated tourism marketing initiatives Australia had ever seen, with:

• $4.5 million for interstate marketing promoting competitive holiday packages and telling Australians that 'nothing beats' Queensland;
• $1 million for intrastate marketing encouraging Queenslanders to 'support their mates' by holidaying at home;
• $1 million targeting New Zealand, Queensland’s largest international market;
• $800,000 for a global youth and adventure traveller campaign aimed at quickly injecting new expenditure into Queensland’s destinations;
• $700,000 for global publicity to encourage key travel writers, bloggers and other media to write and air Queensland stories to counteract flood and cyclone coverage.
• $400,000 each for retail campaigns in Queensland’s top Japan, China and UK markets encouraging visitors to visit Queensland now;
• o $300,000 for marketing activities in other international markets.

The creative details of this campaign will be released shortly to ensure as many people as possible book their Easter holidays in beautiful Queensland. Also to boost Easter visitor numbers, we recently launched the $945,000 'Queensland’s Hottest Deals' campaign. This aggressive new campaign will tempt southerners north with unbeatable offers on airfares, hotel packages and attractions in every region of our great state.

The tourism industry has received more good news with the release of the latest International Visitor Survey statistics yesterday by Tourism Research Australia.

Like all of you, I want to put summer’s devastation behind us. These initiatives put us in a strong position to start rebuilding Queensland’s tourism industry and economy and I am confident that, together, we will win this fight. 

Anna Bligh
Queensland Premier

Reporter's Comments: Considering the importance of tourism to the Queensland economy, shouldn't tourism be the sole portfolio of a Minister? Jan Jarratt must have alot on her plate being the Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business. If I'm missing the point here then I'm happy to be enlightened.

Mat Churchill