8th March 2017
In good news for tourists, Whitsunday residents and local businesses, the Whitsundays is about to receive a huge cash boost after the popular Queensland islands region was nominated to become part of the Regional Tourism Infrastructure Investment Attraction Strategy, a new national plan to drive tourism investment and infrastructure.
Following a recent meeting of tourism ministers in Darwin, Minister Kate Jones announced that the iconic Queensland tourism region of the Whitsundays was primed for investment and growth. The only region in the state to be included in the strategy, the chain of islands continues to grow from strength to strength with Whitsunday holidays noting record growth.
According to Tourism Whitsundays CEO Craig Turner the announcement is perfectly timed with visitation to the Whitsundays growing by 30 per cent – a new record. Turner believes that financial return lays in the commitment and investment by the Tourism Minister and Queensland Government.
“The Whitsundays carried the greatest number of visitors to the Great Barrier Reef last financial year and we are on track this year to exceed 1 million visitors to the GBR Marine Park in the Whitsundays, for the first time ever” he said.
Turner said that the size of the investment that the government has committed to the Whitsundays will result in prosperity for the region, with lots of new jobs generated from the opportunity moving forward.
Working with Tourism Australia and Austrade, the Queensland Government is set to see in a new era of investment in Whitsundays tourism.
“We want to do all we can to attract new investment to the Whitsundays including new hotels and resorts and new tourist attractions that will inspire more visitors to come to the region, grow the local economy and support more tourism jobs,” Jones said.
Scoping local investment opportunities, the five year plan will predominantly target international visitors to the Whitsundays.
