{"id":184560,"date":"2017-07-20T15:21:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T05:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=184560"},"modified":"2020-09-08T13:12:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T03:12:37","slug":"sqct-tourism-claims-disputed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/07\/20\/sqct-tourism-claims-disputed\/","title":{"rendered":"SQCT Tourism Claims Disputed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Visit South Burnett president Jason Kinsella believes claims about a 30 per cent rise in the region’s tourist numbers over the past five years don’t match the experiences of local tourist operators<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 20, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Claims by Southern Queensland Country Tourism (SQCT) that South Burnett visitor numbers have risen are being disputed by the newly formed Visit South Burnett local tourism association.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, SQCT CEO Mary-Clare Power claimed Tourism Research Australia statistics showed South Burnett visitor numbers had increased by 30 per cent over the past five years, rising from 448,000 in 2012 to more than 581,000 this year.<\/p>\n

But Visit South Burnett president Jason Kinsella said if this were true, he had to question why revenues at the region’s dams dropped by $225,000 in the past year, and why Easter visitor numbers across the region were also down on previous years.<\/p>\n

Mr Kinsella said he believed SQCT had deliberately chosen a period mid-way between the 2011 and 2013 floods as the baseline for its study to make it appear the regional tourism organisation had achieved better results than was really the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said it was well known that tourism in the South Burnett dropped away steeply after the 2011 floods.<\/p>\n

The extended closure of the Blackbutt Range and the 2013 floods further compounded the problem.<\/p>\n

“It could well be that the South Burnett received 581,000 visitors in 2010,” Mr Kinsella said.<\/p>\n

“In that case, the figures would show that SQCT has achieved nothing in the past seven years.”<\/p>\n

Mr Kinsella, who was speaking on Thursday during a break at an all-day tourism workshop in Kingaroy hosted by the South Burnett Regional Council, said Visit South Burnett had been formed by South Burnett tourism operators who were dissatisfied with SQCT.<\/p>\n

“We would like our Council to stop funding Southern Queensland Country Tourism and direct its support to local initiatives instead,” Mr Kinsella said.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n