How Outback tourism has found a new life in Queensland
A quiet boom has been developing in Queensland’s Outback that is putting places like Porcupine Gorge on the tourist maps.
Tourism in regional Queensland is booming
Visitation to regional Queensland has been outstripping the state’s high profile tourist centres. In the latest figures to the end of May, travel to regional Queensland was up 34 per cent on last year, compared with 17.5 per cent for the state.
Flinders Shire, based in Hughenden, 380km from Townsville, attracted a record number of tourists in the 2021-2022 financial year.
Before the pandemic, the Flinders Discovery Centre attracted about 21,000 visitors a year, but in 2021-2022 visits jumped to 27,467. That was an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year, but 42 per cent on the Covid-affected 2019-2020.
Conus Consultancy has also analysed figures from Tourism Research Australia for the year to March 2022 which economist Pete Faulkner said showed that domestic tourism in the Far North “has been going gangbusters”.
“Domestic tourism expenditure in the TNQ region hit a new record high of $3.26 bn (incl of overnight and day trips). If we compare results since the same period a year ago the scale of the north’s performance becomes clear,” Faulkner said.
“In Australia domestic visitor numbers are up 12.7 per cent with expenditure up a thumping 31.5 per cent.
“Queensland has done even better with visitors increasing by 21.6 per cent and expenditure up 37.6 per cent. The results for TNQ are extraordinary; visitor numbers increased by 39 per cent while expenditure has rocketed up by 76.8 per cent.
“Obviously, this does not make up for the almost total loss of international visitors over the period; nevertheless total expenditure for the year to March 2022 ($3.35 billion) is down just 12.8 per cent from the same period in 2019 while the same metric is down 32.5 per cent across Australia and is down 23.5 per cent in Queensland.”
Flinders Mayor Jane McNamara said it was great news for the region.
“We’re a small town but with a huge heart and big plans and we know visitors are drawn to the north west pocket of Queensland to discover Hughenden’s hidden treasures and endless possibilities for themselves,” she said.
McNamara said Porcupine Gorge and the region’s recreational lakes were big attractions.
