A major international promotion to entice more UK, US and Hong Kong visitors to travel to Queensland has taken off this month as part of the new $12 million agreement between Queensland and Qantas.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey said the campaigns aimed to increase visitation from key source markets, which currently represent 20 per cent of all international arrivals to Queensland.

“During the past financial year UK, US and Hong Kong visitors to Queensland collectively rose eight per cent to 412,000 with travellers spending $785 million on trips to the State, an increase of 15 per cent on the previous year,” Ms Stuckey said.

“The aim of the activity is to build on this momentum as we enter the key international holiday booking season in the northern hemisphere, keeping Queensland top of mind amongst potential visitors.

“The campaigns are being delivered through the landmark partnership agreement reached between the Newman Government and Qantas to promote the State’s important tourism industry.

“Under Labor, tourism ground to a halt, while under the Newman Government the industry is experiencing a revival.

“Our Government recognises tourism as one of the four pillars of the state’s economy and agreements like the one reached with Qantas will help achieve our goal of doubling annual overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2020.”

The marketing activity includes:

• In the UK, a partnership with Flight Centre to promote the ‘Best of Australia’ alongside Destination NSW.
• In Hong Kong, advertisements will feature Queensland’s lifestyle and natural encounters in partnership with prominent local travel companies to promote Qantas’ daily flights to Brisbane.
• In the US, the ‘See for Yourself’ campaign will invite US visitors to travel to Queensland in the lead-up to daily Los Angeles-Brisbane flights in December.

The campaigns include print, digital, subscriber databases, in-store window displays and include travel trade tours of Queensland.