Steve Edmondson, director for Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises, and Owner Operator of Sailaway Low Isles and Sailaway Sunset, has just returned from his journey to Europe to promote Queensland, and more specifically our region as part of  Tourism Queensland's‘Queensland on Tour’.

Here is what Steve had to say about the Tour.

I was one of 27 key companies who represented the best of Queensland product whilst participating in Tourism Queensland ‘Queensland on Tour’ Europe 2010. This high profile destination marketing mission was to industry agents and product managers with partner airlines, Qantas, Cathay and Emirates, attending.

I visited Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Demark on my own before the tour, and made my way to London for a meeting with Tourism Queensland and Tourism Australia.

In Brussels we had a very successful workshop, which was also attended by the Australian Ambassador to Belgium and the UN, His Excellency Dr Brendan Nelson, who made an endorsement of the tourism products presented and their value to Australian business development.

This also coincided with the launch of the new ‘Queensland Where Australia shines’ campaign which was positively received.

We also completed a successful workshop in Zurich after arriving in our private plane from Brussels. We flew on for more workshops, a gala dinner and a meeting with our Italian Industry partners followed by a workshop and dinner in London.

After leaving London last Friday evening I got back home (via Singapore and Darwin) arriving Sunday morning!

I am very happy with the attendance and quality of appointments. Our premium reef experiences are perfect for the Domestic and European markets. Small numbers, personal service to the best sites on the Great Barrier Reef. Our great reputation and branding make a winning recipe to build confidence and strong relationships.

An Advanced Ecotourism day tour adds to an attractive itinerary and after three big international destination marketing tours and 13 Australian Tourism Exchanges, Poseidon and Sailaway make a important contribution to ‘Inspire the experience’ being ‘Adventurous by nature’!

Our fantastic Great Barrier Reef and the Port Douglas region had a huge boost. The next important step to success along with an authentic product is to deliver excellent service and to exceed expectations. This also increases the numbers of ‘Ambassadors to Australia’ as well as a greater appreciation and awareness of our natural environment.

We need to encourage the aspiration for unique experiences, a great reason to invest in travel to Queensland and Tropical North Queensland. Everyday this message is able to be promoted to the European market catchment of up to 300 million people.

The front line of thousands of enthusiastic agents promoting Queensland product across Europe is a key driving force for stimulating long haul travel to Australia, even more necessary in order to generate new business with the challenges ahead. Queensland had around 194,000 visitor arrivals in 2009/10 from Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Interestingly, despite economic pressures, that is half of the arrivals to Australia at 397,000. Each market was up from previous year (Source: Australia Bureau of Statistics, IVS June 2010).

I personally thank the Tourism Queensland team for organising a great tour and to all the agents who made the time and effort to attend throughout Europe.

Welcome to Queensland Where Australia shines!