Issues & Trends – February 2011
QUEENSAND TOURISM NEEDS YOU
After floods and cyclone state looks to tourism for rejuvenation
QUEENSLANDERS are pinning their hopes on an influx of tourists to kick start the state’s economy in the wake of devastating floods and Cyclone Yasi. And the country’s travel distribution industry has pledged its support to efforts to persuade Australians to take this year’s holidays in Queensland.
A task force, organised by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) and AFTA, visited Brisbane in late January just days after the city had been brought to a standstill by floods.
They were greeted by QTIC chief executive Daniel Gschwind who assured them: “We are open for business … tourist infrastructure (throughout Queensland) has been only marginally affected by the floods.”
Including the heads of all of Australia’s major retail chains and leading wholesalers, the task force members saw for themselves that the state capital had recovered quickly from the floods. They met at Riverlife where proprietor John Sharpe told them that his riverside functions venue was possibly in better shape than before the floods – thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers who appeared unasked at the venue to help with the clean-up. (“It’s changed my view of this community,” he said.)
Stella’s wholesale chief Simon Bernardi commented. “This is right in the heart of the area affected by the floods – the epicentre – yet you’d never know a flood had been here.
“We need to keep repeating and repeating and repeating how good it is here.
“It’s a fantastic time to come here and we need to promote that message and we intend to do so.”
At Brisbane’s Royal on the Park – where the entire ground floor lobby area had been flooded, task force members saw a hotel with public areas in perfect condition and operating as normal.
Neil Scanlan, Queensland regional general manager for Accor which has around 1500 rooms in Brisbane’s CBD, told travelBulletin that the chain’s Brisbane hotels were all operating at full capacity including the Mercure which was located on the river but was unscathed by the floods.
At the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, which had been hit hard by the floods, the task force saw that it had been restored and was fully operational.
Members of the state’s MICE industry are hopeful that businesses will give special consideration to Queensland in allocating meetings business.
Gschwind told the task force that the story was the same throughout Queensland’s tourist areas where “99 per cent of the tourism assets were unaffected”.
Graham (Skroo) Turner, chief executive of Flight Centre, which has its global headquarters in Brisbane and 280 outlets located throughout the state said the company had 63 shops out of action on the first day of the floods but only six were still shut three days later.
AFTA chief executive Jay Westbury said the federation’s Sydney office had been swamped with emails from travel agents around Australia express-ing concern for Queenslanders.
“My message to the travel consultants of Australia is that they can help by influencing, suggesting, recommending a domestic holiday in Queensland to their clients,” he said.
Travelscene American Express boss Mike Thompson said: “We’re here to help” and pledged that his chain will ensure it has the right products to help encourage clients to visit Queensland.
Tourism Queensland chief executive Anthony Hayes said Queensland has 170,000 registered tourism businesses – the majority of them comprising five people or less – “and the phones have stopped ringing …
The best way to help us out is not to feel sorry for us but to take a holiday here”.
Australian Tourism Export Council managing director Felicia Mariani urged operators sitting on invoices from Queensland suppliers to expedite payments and help with cash flow.
Of course, since the task force visit to Brisbane, Queensland has again been buffeted by the cyclone that swept through the North of the state. But Gschwind has the same message for the travel agents of Australia.
Speaking to travelBulletin from Cairns, where he had accompanied Scottish comedian Billy Connolly on a publicity trip designed to demonstrate that the region is again ready to welcome tourists, Gschwind said: “It’s beautiful and warm up here. The whole of Queensland is open for business – 99 per cent of our tourism infrastructure is up and running.”