Queensland tourism authorities must constantly improve and upgrade their services to ensure visitors
experience the best our state has to offer. This is not always easy, but now new research from one of
Queensland’s key visitor markets has identified what makes certain holiday-makers tick. Research from
Tourism Research Australia and Tourism Queensland has discovered a very special group of visitors.
Connectors are visitors who enjoy taking holidays to connect with people they care about, and in
Queensland they tend to drive to a holiday destination within a 400-kilometre radius of their home. The
connectors market is regarded as ideal for the intrastate market, with 10.67 million Queenslanders
travelling within the state last year.
This research focused on Queensland’s regions where intrastate visitors were a key source of the
market—South-East Queensland country, Queensland’s outback, Fraser Coast, Central Queensland
and the southern Great Barrier Reef, Mackay and Townsville. The results found that connectors are
drawn to beaches and natural attractions—attributes Queensland has in spades.
Connectors do not like the constraints of an itinerary. They prefer to do things in their own time
and are not heavy holiday researchers or planners. On their ideal holiday, connectors like to rest, relax,
have fun, unwind, de-stress, have new experiences, explore and leave the cares of the world behind.
When travelling to a destination, they often seek out natural experiences, try locally grown produce and
visit unique attractions, and they like to get there easily.
This research provides great insights to Queensland regions and provides a valuable snapshot of
regions’ attributes, attractions and services. This kind of information assists with marketing because it
helps determine what kinds of tourism campaigns should be pursued in an effort to attract more visitors.
Insights from the research can also help local tourism businesses make decisions about how best to
target the connectors market in the future. Local tourism organisations can also seek help for new
tourism marketing or product development initiatives targeting connectors by applying for funds from the
Queensland tourism network grants scheme.
