Queensland’s Australian Age Of Dinosaurs park has taken out the Gold prize at this year’s tourism awards ceremony, in what has been a record-breaking year for visitors to the Sunshine State.
Minister for Tourism Industry Development, Kate Jones said she was excited for what was in store in 2020.
“It’s been a whip-cracking year for outback tourism with more than one million tourists visiting the bush and spending a record $724 million in the last financial year,” Ms Jones said.
“Year of the Outback Tourism was a dedicated campaign to encourage more visitors to the outback and to support our regions which are doing it tough due to the long-running drought – and it worked.”
She said the Year of the Outback Tourism had been so successful, it was being extended into 2020 with even more events being delivered to showcase extraordinary outback destinations and support rural and remote communities.
At the awards event, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that 2020 would be dedicated to First Nations experiences in Queensland as the Year of Indigenous Tourism.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been proudly practicing and preserving their cultures by sharing it with the next generation for tens of thousands of years,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“In recent times, their culture and stories have been an integral part of our tourism industry, attracting people from all around the world to learn and experience more about the world’s oldest living cultures.”
She said that during the last financial year almost half a million visitors to Queensland took part in First Nations experiences like visiting an Aboriginal art gallery or festival, visiting an Aboriginal cultural site or community or taking a tour with an Indigenous guide or ranger.
“More tourists than ever before want a cultural experience when they travel and Queensland is perfectly placed to capitalise on that demand,” the Premier said.
Hosted by Queensland Tourism Industry Council, more than 80 awards were presented across 28 categories.
The full list of winners can be accessed at this PS News link.
