Queensland Ready to Welcome You

Queensland in Australia has been in the news the past few weeks with reports of damaging floods covering an area the size of Germany and France, or the state of Texas. Regional towns and country districts, as well as the city’s capital city, Brisbane, have been affected by rising rivers. However major tourist attractions on the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and the Whitsunday Islands have been relatively unscathed. Tourism Queensland has launched a postcard campaign to tell Australians that Queensland’s tourism destinations have the welcome mat rolled out and waiting for visitors. The postcard campaign uses print, radio and online advertising and social media channels such as the Visit Queensland Facebook page to invite Australians to visit Queensland, directing travellers through to Tourism Queensland’s www.queenslandholidays.com.au website for a range of holiday deals,” he said.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said that with most of the state’s tourism destinations unaffected by the floods and affected regions now on the way to recovery, the time was right to invite Australians to come and visit.

“While Queensland is facing its most challenging natural disaster, it‘s important that we keep the state’s economy running. Queensland is Where Australia Shines and in the aftermath of the floods we continue to see shining examples of Queenslanders’ generosity in helping those who have been affected every day. While many Australians may not have been able to be here to help with the clean up phase, they can still help Queenslanders by taking a Queensland holiday, and by encouraging friends and family to do the same. Taking a Queensland holiday will show our tourism industry that Australians are supporting us and will directly help the 222,000 Queenslanders who owe their living to tourism. Unfortunately the huge amount of publicity the floods have generated created an impression that most of Queensland’s tourism regions have been affected. Most are in fact fully accessible and open and of those who were directly impacted, many were open again within just a few days of floodwaters receding, while others are well on the way towards resuming normal business operation. Now all they need is visitors through the doors to really help them on the road to recovery.”