Regional Queensland tourism is thriving after travel restrictions ease

Queenslanders are getting out and about to support their state’s tourism industry now that they are free to travel. Some regions are seeing visitation and forward bookings that are remarkable for this time of year.

Camping is where its at!

Image credit: Tourism & Events Queensland

Caravan sales are up by a third, and a new market is buying them, according to Bob Carroll of Australian Events who has run close to a dozen ‘outdoor adventure’ trade expos in Queensland since July.

Bob has noticed people he wouldn’t expect to buy caravans are now attending an expo to buy a caravan or buy equipment to make better use of their 4WD - even people who normally stay in 5-star hotels. 

Bob says the easy-to-use camper trailers are a low-cost entry purchase and more younger people are buying them. Being off grid and self-sufficient is easier than ever, which means travellers can camp anywhere and save on overnight caravan park fees.

Today travellers can also hire a quality 4WD and caravan, not just a motorhome. Hire companies will even include an esky packed full of a custom order of groceries to make the whole trip super easy. Travellers can also ‘Airbnb’ borrow someone else’s van with Camplify. 

Matt Bron, Tourism & Events Queensland’s Destination Director of Outback and Country Queensland, says the family camper trailer market is a small but growing market for the Outback and regional Queensland. Those travelling with camper trailers tend to drive for a day, then set up camp in one destination for the whole of their 5-6-day holiday, unlike RVers and caravanners who tend to keep moving. 

Some Queensland destinations are doing really well

Peter Homan, CEO of Southern Queensland Country, says conversations with colleagues at other regional tourism organisations have revealed that north of Brisbane up to the Fraser Coast (around Hervey Bay) is really busy. Further north from the Fraser Coast to Rockhampton has good visitation on weekends. Outback Queensland is still busy deep into October – at this time of year it’s normally too hot for visitors. Peter says wineries are doing so well in Southern Queensland Country, they are running out of wine.

Image credit: Tourism & Events Queensland

The Visitor Information Centre in Emerald has welcomed an increase of almost 37% in visitors compared to last year. Melanie Lavelle-Maloney, Charters Towers Regional Council’s Tourism Advisor, says that although NSW and VIC residents haven’t been able to travel to the Central Highlands region this tourism season, their local tourism industry is mostly unaffected by COVID as Queenslanders from all across Queensland are filling the gap.

Melanie has noticed more diversity in who is visiting the region: more families and more younger visitors (younger than the ‘grey nomad’ market who are normally the main visitors to the region), and they are visiting much later into the shoulder season than normal.

Miners Heritage in the Gemfields recorded a 32% increase in takings in August compared to August 2019. “We have been flat-out since re-opening in mid-June and our underground tours are fully booked every day,” owner and operator Kerrie Wilson says. “I’m just blown away by the number of people seeing our wonderful region.”

Emerald Tourist Park has not recorded an increase compared to 2019 however the current levels have still been unexpectedly strong. “Our customer numbers are down from last year and our busy period started a month later than usual this year but, given the travel restrictions and border closures, we are pleasantly surprised that levels are as high as they are,” park manager Sally Knight said..

High visitation in the outback

Mick Bethel from Texas Longhorn Wagon Tours and Safaris just outside Charters Towers inland from Townsville says they’ve never been so busy since COVID travel restrictions were lifted.

The COVID-safety protocols have been simple to implement (after some changes to regulations were made following work in the background by organisations like QTIC). Although the chance of catching the coronavirus in the Outback is extremely low, the strictly-followed protocols ensure travellers feel confident that travel is safe. As Mick says, “They’re more likely to get an unfunny joke from me than coronavirus”

Mick says, “I’ve been surprised to learn there is a burning desire in people to travel. What we take for granted, the vast majority of people don’t experience – they don’t live on 11,000 acres like us. They can’t wait to get out, and it’s safe to be out here. 

“This year we decided to be open seven days a week. We thought we’d be there even if there is only one visitor, even if we only break even at the end of the year. We’ve created a monster! A good monster. The demand for things to do is huge.

Image credit: Texas Longhorn Tours

“Our big take out is that people have not been afraid to get out, and they are looking for things to do! We are only restricted by our capacity – we had standby people a few times this year and some people missed out, even when we offered extra tours. 

This year we’re seeing more people from Townsville who rarely visited before even though they are close, and more families. Quite a few of our visitors have said if it wasn’t for COVID there is no way they’d be here – they’d be overseas. But they are really happy and they’re seeing new things and they’re not disappointed that they aren’t overseas. 

“We’ll see at least another year of that as people will want to wait until COVID settles down before heading overseas. Now is our time to shine. Australians can have an incredible experience here. It’s a window of opportunity for us out in the regions. I’d say go for it if you want to start a new regional tourism business. We are bracing ourselves for the influx from NSW and VIC next year.

“Our best marketing is word of mouth – a positive pandemic where everyone infects someone else – an exponential word-of-mouth infection rate of 1.3 would be great for us!”

Image credit: Tourism & Events Queensland

Some sectors have not bounced back

Unfortunately, some Queensland regions are still suffering from the change in visitor markets.

Brisbane has only a fifth of its normal visitation, and the Gold Coast, heavily dependent on NSW and international visitors, has only 2/5 of its normal visitation, relayed Peter Homan. North of Rockhampton such as around Townsville and Cairns is still quiet, with fewer flights contributing to the lack of visitation.

However since June, Tropical North Queensland has been one of the top five regions in Australia experiencing the highest growth in visitation, according to Triptech.

As Mick said, “My heart breaks for tourism operators who rely on interstate tourism. The entire tourism season is gone now. Some even fell through the cracks of JobKeeper.”

There are also many fewer events being held in Queensland, with most community-run events cancelled until 2021, and conferences and consumer events not being held.

With Queensland normally hosting 5-6,000 events per year, this is a big blow economically, and some events venues have been really hit hard. Bob Carroll said in this current environment hosting his trade expo at a venue can be the difference between the venue staying viable and going bankrupt. 

In the first months of running post-COVID caravan and camping trade expos from July until late August, Bob saw both a drop in exhibitors (20-30%) and in attendees (15-30%), but since then attendances have been up by 30% from last year, and visitors are coming motivated with a purpose and spending freely, with record sales experienced by some exhibitors. 

Birdsville’s Big Red Bash sold out for 2021, showing that consumer sentiment around events in QLD is very strong for next year.

In an interesting intersection of camping and events, Australia’s most-used camping app, CamperMate, can push notices to travellers about what events are on nearby, as well as other valuable messages.

Image credit: Tourism & Events Queensland

Strategic mentoring

If you would like mentoring on how to support your region, Linda Tillman’s holistic experience means she is well-placed to mentor individuals across the tourism industry, with a background that includes working as CEO of a regional tourism organisation, working with local governments and tourism operators across regional Australia, managing events, and being a small business owner and entrepreneur. Call 0439 192 193 to have a chat about your situation.

Over to you

Image credit: Tourism & Events Queensland

We’d love to hear about your experience with regional travel in recent months.

Please share in the comments if you have noticed anything different in visitation to your region this year compared to last, such as different kinds of visitors travelling through your region, different length of stay, different vehicles or groups visitors are travelling in, different places they are staying, etc.

…and let us know where you’ll be travelling in regional Australia in coming months!