The Palaszczuk Government continues to fail to sell Queensland to the world following figures released by Tourism Research Australia on international visitor numbers and expenditure in 2016.
Shadow Tourism Minister Jon Krause said New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia all saw a greater increase in visitor numbers than Queensland in 2016.
“Queensland should be Australia’s number one tourist destination for international visitors, but Labor’s failure to support Queensland tourism means we are losing ground,” Mr Krause said.
“Why would you go anywhere else when you can dive on the Great Barrier Reef, or soak up the sun and the sand at our pristine beaches?
“Queensland was the second-most popular state for international visitors in 2014, but has fallen behind Victoria on the tourism ladder under Minister Kate Jones’ watch.
“Queensland had second-lowest growth in tourist spending last year, and now we are stalled in third place on international visitors while other states like New South Wales and Victoria continue to power ahead.”
Mr Krause said Queensland’s international visitor nights fell last year by 2%, whereas New South Wales increased by 2% and Victoria by 8%, meaning that people weren’t staying in Queensland for as long.
“As Queenslanders we have the greatest State in the world to sell to tourists – but we need a government with a clear plan for our tourism sector,” he said.
“Queensland is falling behind other states because Labor has no plan, instead talking about a ‘tourism infrastructure pipeline’, but it’s just all talk and no action from a Minister who is out of her depth.
“Is it any wonder why we have increasing regional unemployment when our tourism jobs are disappearing interstate?
“This shows yet another industry falling behind under a do-nothing Palaszczuk Labor Government with no plan for Queensland.”
