‘Where can I go to ride a kangaroo?’ QLD visitor information centres answer the call of international tourists
Posted by editor (editor) on May 31 2009
2009 >>

Many Queensland tourists turn to one of our 120 visitor information centres to get answers to questions ranging from ‘Where should I take my girlfriend to propose?’ to ‘Where can I go to ride a kangaroo?’.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said the Bligh Government and Tourism Queensland recently launched a new campaign to promote Queensland’s visitor information centres and the little yellow ‘i’.

“For the first time, we are educating international visitors about Queensland’s network of accredited visitor information centres in an international digital marketing campaign to increase awareness of the centres, helping tourists to access important decision-making information,” Mr Lawlor said.

“Tourists regularly want information about unusual or off-the-beaten-track experiences, and visitor information centres give them that chance to talk with locals about what locals know best.

“The centres are staffed by volunteers who act like fountains of knowledge, responding to a wide range of questions from tourists about all sorts of wonderful and weird things, such as ‘Where should I take my girlfriend to propose?’ and ‘Where can I go to ride a kangaroo?’.

“Visitor information centres provide tourists with a window into our Queensland communities, giving them access to real, up-to-date information straight from the people who really know what’s going on.

“The campaign runs until the end of June and will feature on prominent websites such as queenslandholidays.com, Lonely Planet and TNT Downunder.

“A good centre can mean the difference between visitors just driving through and those choosing to stay, see the local sights and spend in the local economy.

“31 percent of tourists use a visitor information centre to book their accommodation and 39 percent of visitors use a visitor information to find out more about local tours.

“However, our research shows that many international tourists are not aware that the service is there.

“It is particularly important that our international visitors know to look for the yellow on blue ‘i’ sign to find local, unbiased travel information.”

Mr Lawlor said international tourism was a key economic driver for Queensland, with more than two million international visitors annually injecting more than $4 billion in expenditure into the economy and supporting 119,000 Queensland jobs.

“The Bligh Government has recently committed an additional $36 million to marketing tourism in Queensland,” he said.

“We are committed to protecting the tourism industry jobs during this time while also building on our Toward Q2 promise of building a stronger Queensland.”

Last changed: Oct 06 2009 at 3:01 PM