Motorhome outside Parliament House, Brisbane

The Queensland Government understands the importance of tourism and is committed to doubling overnight visitor expenditure to $30 billion per annum by 2020.

Drive tourism is a key part of our plan to return the Queensland tourism industry to number one. It is also vitally important to our regional cities and towns which rely heavily on the drive tourism market to support their local businesses.

I am pleased to say people right across Queensland have now had their say on the future of this important market. During the three week consultation phase in November last year, close to 100 submissions were received from all corners of the state. The submissions were varied and included:

• A regional council calling for planning reform and investment initiatives for drive tourism accommodation
• A regional tourism organisation highlighting the importance of understanding the drive market better, to inform decision making in relation to marketing, infrastructure and signage 
• A caravan park operator indicating the need to cut red tape to make it easier to erect signage

By using this information and through close consultation with the tourism industry, QTIC, government agencies,  regional tourism organisations and industry associations we have created a strategy which encompasses relevant areas of the drive market, from tourers on extensive road trips and families taking camping trips, to short day trips and weekends away. The strategy has the potential to:

• Enhance drive travel experiences to visitors travelling in and around the state and encourage visitors to travel beyond major tourism destinations
• Encourage longer stays in regional centres, creating greater spend within the region
• Promote driver/traveller safety whilst creating new travel experiences

Queensland Tourism Minister, Jann Stuckey

The Queensland Government wants drive tourists to be safe and comfortable while exploring our great state. This means maintaining our commitment to quality roads, appropriate rest areas, accommodation options and user friendly information to enable visitors to plan their journey.

The importance of creating new technologies is one of the key issues the strategy addresses. Research shows 83 per cent of leisure travellers and 76 per cent of business travellers plan their trips online and as an industry, we need to keep up. It is exciting to see tourism organisations throughout Queensland embracing technology and providing  tourists with the tools they demand. I recently helped launch the Drive North Queensland App in Kuranda in association with Tropical Tablelands Tourism, Tropical North Queensland Tourism and RACQ. Initiatives like this will improve the overall tourism experience for our visitors.

A strong drive tourism sector presents opportunities for the whole of Queensland. Growing the drive tourism market will promote job creation, infrastructure development and provide incentives for regional Queensland communities to create unique regional attractions to help drive economic growth.

There are many challenges facing the industry and we understand they need to be identified and addressed collaboratively and cooperatively, for the benefit of the Queensland economy and Queensland communities. We have set out a clear action plan and I look forward to working with industry to deliver the strategy’s outcomes.

We will always be competing internationally and domestically for the tourism dollar, but we are confident the strategy is a strong foundation to position our great state as a world-leading drive tourism destination.

The Queensland Drive Tourism Strategy 2013-2015 can be found at: www.dtesb.qld.gov.au/tourism-industry/queenslanddrive-tourism-strategy 

Category: Features
Written: Fri 01 Feb 2013
Printed: February, 2013
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