27th September 2017
Despite suffering damage to infrastructure and damage to their tourism reputation earlier this year due to Cyclone Debbie, it seems that the Whitsundays still hasn't lost its allure to international tourists. Recent figures released by Tourism Australia on International Visitor Statistics shows that the number of visitors to the region has actually increased by 8.7 per cent year on year with a total of 241,000 visitors in the year ending June 30 2017.
Of the 241K visitors, the majority of them (234,000) were in the area for holidays. This is a 9.4 per cent increase in holidaymakers over the same period in the previous year. It's also interesting to note that both increases are higher than Queensland's overall increases. The state saw an increase in international visitors of 5.6 per cent and an increase in international holidaymakers of 6.5 per cent. In the year ending 30 June 2017 Queensland saw a total of 2.6 million international visitors, however only 1.8 million of this total was attributed to holidaymakers.
A total of 2.6 million overseas visitors came to Queensland in the 12-month period to June 30, 2017, and 1.8 million of these were holidaymakers.
Tourism Whitsundays CEO Craig Turner says this is a shining example of the resilience of the local tourism community.
"Considering these figures include the last quarter of the financial year - April, May and June - it is absolutely fantastic that we have still added almost 10% to our international holiday-maker tally, compared to the same period last year," he said.
"All tourism operators and indeed the whole region should take heart from these visitor figures as we are ahead of the rest of Queensland when it comes to percentage increases and this is after experiencing an extreme weather event."
So while Aussies have always flocked to the Whitsundays as a popular holiday destination for both couples and families, it seems the word is continuing to spread throughout the world on just what a special place the Whitsundays is.
