QUEENSLAND CASHES IN ON $5 BILLION TOURISM BOOM

International visitors spent almost $5 billion across Queensland in 2015 as tourism continues to boom, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said today.

Ms Palaszczuk said the latest Tourism Research Australia figures confirmed the Queensland Government’s efforts to grow the industry were paying off.

“We have made the most of favourable market conditions with the largest number of international visitors in history coming to Queensland last year,” the Premier said

“For the first time, more than 2.3 million international travellers touched down in Queensland, an increase of 9% on the previous 12 months.

“These visitors led to a 19% uplift in expenditure to $4.9 billion continuing the growth across the State.”

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Kate Jones said the record figures were achieved off the back of strong growth in the Chinese market.

“China remains Queensland’s largest market in terms of overnight visitor expenditure, recording a massive 51% increase to more than $950 million for the year,” she said.

“And it wasn’t just growth from China but expenditure from 16 of the international source markets grew with travellers from the US up 38%, United Kingdom 13% and Japan 5%.

“The total number of visitors from China rose to 399,000, an increase of 21%, while 197,000 people came from the U.S. which was 19 per cent more than the previous year and there were 227,000 visitors from the U.K, growth of eight per cent.

“New Zealand remains Queensland’s largest international market in terms of total visitor numbers with 424,000 visiting the state while expenditure increased four percent to $556.2 million.”

Ms Jones said the Palaszczuk Government was determined to secure more international flights to help grow Queensland’s tourism industry.

“Already, our we have secured additional international flights expected to bring 228,000 more visitors to Queensland and up to $298 million extra for our economy each year,” Ms Jones said.

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) Chair Bob East said strong dispersal across the state underlined the continuing growth of tourism across regional Queensland.

“There has never been a better time for our sector with the fastest growing region on Queensland’s doorstep, in a similar time zone and just one flight away,” Mr East said.

“In addition to securing additional inbound aviation opportunities, we are stepping up our effort to sell Queensland’s unique experiences to the world through targeted marketing and a world-class event portfolio.

“The opportunities are there for sustained future growth to deliver significant gains for the visitor economy.”

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