Glittering week for tourism in Queensland
November was a spectacular month for celebrating everything great about Queensland’s tourism industry, with Destination Indigenous Queensland (IQ) 2021, DestinationQ 2021 and the Queensland Tourism Awards all taking place in the week beginning 8 November.
More than 890 delegates came together for the DestinationQ2021 Forum in Brisbane, making it the biggest tourism event across the state in the last two years.
The easing of mask restrictions across south-east Queensland, coupled with so many of our tourism industry representatives having the opportunity to come together once again to discuss the future of Queensland’s tourism industry, made for a great day all round.
Key highlights and takeaways from the day included:
- Be brave and authentic in your business.
- Focus on increasing adaptability.
- Embrace virtual tourism experiences and look for ways to innovate.
- Travellers are looking for more sustainable options and safe travel destinations - we can offer this.
- Visitors are keen to experience Queensland's Indigenous tourism.
- Give the gift of travel this Christmas.
Thank you to our event partners, QTIC, TEQ along with our sponsors who made it all possible.
If you missed the forum, a recording is now available on the DestinationQ website.
Destination IQ in the same week hosted more than 200 business leaders and employers from all over the state, industry and government representatives, Indigenous tourism businesses and organisations, and thought leaders to discuss opportunities, issues and strategies that are influencing and shaping the operating environment for First Nations tourism in Queensland.
The event was an exciting, positive discussion about how far Indigenous tourism has come in recent years, and the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead to ensure Indigenous culture is embedded in the future of Queensland’s tourism.
As part of Minister Hinchliffe’s welcome address, the Minister announced Cairns as the host city for the Australian Indigenous Tourism Conference (AITC) in 2022, with the Queensland Government named as gold sponsor of this national event.
If you missed the forum, resources from the presentations held are on the Destination IQ web page here.
To top off the week in style, the industry came together for the glittering QTIC Queensland Tourism Awards, where the cream of the crop were acknowledged for their hard work in the industry.
The 2021 winners included many initiatives funded by the department, including the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, the Qantas Founders Museum, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort , Paronella Park, Lady Musgrave Experience, O’Reilly’s Campground, and Simon Thornalley from Saltwater Eco Tours who took out the Gold in the Young Achievers Award!
The overwhelming theme of the night was to acknowledge the tourism industry’s incredible workers, and their resilience in what has been a devastating couple of years.
Read more about the winners from the Queensland Tourism Awards.