Ms Bennett said the visitation figures provided by Tourism Research Australia are a guide only; the small sample size used means TPDD uses them with extreme caution.

“TPDD represents the Douglas tourism industry and monitors visitation via surveying of operators as well as use of the TRA figures,” she said.

“Frankly,” Ireland said, “I’m not even sure that TPDD, TTNQ (Tourism Tropical North Queensland) and Douglas Shire Council leadership are even aware of the dire state of the shire’s economy and tourism.

“Given the performance, surely the shire’s community is entitled to know what’s going on, why it’s happening, and what strategies are in place to recover and grow.”

Ireland said the time for a transformational leadership change is urgently needed, with new thinking based around a sound understanding of the negative growth facts of the past five years.

“I am calling for the preparation of a DS Integrated Recovery and Growth Plan, which then needs to be implemented quickly. Our DS economy position continues to move from untenable to unsustainable.”

Ms Bennett said her organisation has acknowledged many times this year how challenging visitation has been due to weather, global factors and aviation, as well as Queensland seeing an overall decline in market share.

“This situation is well understood not only by TPDD and TTNQ, but our industry partners at Tourism Events Queensland and Tourism Australia who have recently been in the region,” she said.

“TPDD continues to be strategic in its forward plans with a clear focus on six core pillars to strengthen tourism in the Douglas region.

“These pillars were formulated by a highly skilled group of tourism professionals and have been shared with the TPDD membership, Douglas Shire Council, TTNQ and the Douglas Chamber of Commerce. This allows us to accurately capture the success of the campaigns that support these pillars in a transparent and measured way.

“The TPDD annual marketing plan is also developed through extensive consultation with the local industry, regional, state and national tourism bodies as well as leading research to ensure a targeted use of resources. We will continue to look forward and remain committed to getting on with tackling the challenging tourism environment,” said Ms Bennett.

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