Destination 2045 - Delivering Queensland’s Tourism Future
The new State Government in Queensland has developed a 20-year tourism strategy as one of its ‘first 100 days’ priorities.
Key takeouts
Queensland’s Destination 2045 strategy could not be more aligned to our passions at Tilma – it feels like the state government took our submission and engagement contributions and turned them into a strategy!
It is fabulous to see that the government listened to Queenslanders, and created a plan that is ambitious yet realistic and holistic.
Following are some of the things that got us excited in the Tilma office.
Making the most of what you have
This statement at the start of the strategic plan is a very important one:
“Building Queensland’s tourism future isn’t just about new attractions and experiences.
It’s about making the most of what we have, and building on our strong foundation, so when people visit they stay for longer and travel to more places around our state.”
So often in destination development the focus is on new and more, without taking stock of what you already have and analysing how to maximise its value. At Tilma we see this often, and point out missed opportunities and low hanging fruit. We’re pleased to see that Queensland recognises there is already so much to work with.
Agritourism
The plan to boost agritourism with more farm stays and experiences to help farmers diversify and improve farm profitability is promising. Agritourism has been placed under the pillar of Ecotourism, alongside the intention to streamline and simplify processes, so fingers crossed there will be work done in Queensland to simplify the red tape for agritourism development in rural communities.
Ecotourism
Whilst development in protected natural areas is controversial, we are excited to see a focus on responsibly showcasing Queensland’s natural assets. We are excited about the messaging throughout the strategy on how enabling people to experience Queensland’s natural wonders will drive them to protect it. We look forward to seeing work in the positive impact space to ensure our industry embrace this view, and understand the role that they play in conservation. .
Industry capability building
A focus on enabling and supporting industry including capability building is spot on. The work we have been doing at Tilma with the State Government and Queensland Regional Tourism Network (comprised of the state’s thirteen regional tourism organisations) to design, build and deliver the Queensland Visitor Experience Program is a first step in achieving a number of the initiatives under this pillar. We can’t wait to see the next phase of this project! We are also excited about the mention of building capability to support event delivery, and look forward to rolling out more programs under Linda’s second tourism development business, Australian Centre for Regional Events, to support this.
Events
We want Queensland to be the event capital of Australia – big call, but bloody exciting!
One of the key points in our submission to the Government during their industry consultation was around the need to rethink the funding and support model for regional events, with a focus on homegrown events that showcase our amazing places and support the social fabric of regional communities. We are excited to see an initiative around fostering a growth pathway of homegrown destination events. We hope that the streamlining major events delivery initiative can also be applied to regional homegrown events with some reduction of red tape and compliance.
What has been missed
The Connectivity Pillar in the Strategy is excellent, but what about bike paths and infrastructure for active transport across our state? With a focus on nature and the environment we would have loved to have seen a priority around investing in infrastructure like we’ve seen successfully drive the visitor economy in New Zealand.
The crisis of lack of volunteers in regional and rural communities that is causing the loss of many great events. It would have been great to see an initiative under the Industry Pillar regarding a transformation for volunteering in Queensland. Not only do events rely on volunteers but so do many visitor centres and host programs. A strong and rich volunteer network across Queensland would help set the state apart.
Well done, Queensland – we look forward to being actively involved in achieving the vision for our state.