February 6, 2014
South Burnett tourism operators will have the opportunity next week to help formulate a strategy aimed at expanding the local tourism market by more than a third in the next six years.
The Southern Queensland Country Tourism (SQCT) will be holding a “think tank” at Kingaroy Town Hall next Monday afternoon to gather ideas about how the South Burnett can cash in on seven emerging trends in Queensland’s tourism sector.
The regional tourism organisation covers the South Burnett, Toowoomba, Southern Downs, Western Country and Maranoa Regional Council areas.
The think tank is one of five SQCT is holding to gather ideas as it puts together a strategy to lift tourism expenditure in the area from its current $734 million per annum to more than $1 billion per annum by 2020.
Other meetings will be held in Chinchilla, Warwick, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba.
According to SQCT research, more than 1.8 million domestic visitors currently travel into the area each year, along with 48,000 international visitors. The money they spend supports 21,907 full-time-equivalent jobs.
As part of the State Government’s 20-Year Queensland Plan, SQCT has been tasked with lifting these numbers to 2.2 million domestic visitors, 66,000 international visitors and almost 30,000 FTE jobs in the next six years.
It aims to do this by playing on the region’s competitive strengths and “hero experiences”, and targeting consumer markets which have shown a strong preference for the area.
Monday’s think tank will run from 3:00pm to 6:00pm and is open to anyone interested in growing the local tourism market.
More information can be obtained from SBRC Economic Development Officer Kimberley Dove on (07) 4189-9174 or by emailing her.
- Download a copy of the Think Tank Discussion Paper (590kb PDF)
UPDATE February 7: Due to low numbers the Chinchilla DTP think tank has been cancelled
