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Targeted domestic marketing campaigns and expos led by Tourism Whitsundays and Tourism and Events Queensland have helped the Whitsundays experience a surge in intrastate numbers, new figures have revealed. http://www.tourismthailand.org/landing/landing_en.html

According to new data released by Tourism Research Australia today, total domestic visitors to the Whitsundays tipped in at 551,000 for the year ending June 2018, representing a 7.1 per cent increase on the corresponding year.

The positive results were underpinned by a surge in intrastate holiday visitors flocking to the Whitsundays, with the data showing a massive 45.8 per cent year-on-year spike in intrastate holiday visitors to 206,000, up from 169,000 the previous year. Furthermore, total intrastate visitors for the year jumped 19.8 per cent to 372,000.

The data also revealed that domestic overnight expenditure in the Whitsundays jumped 5.9 per cent year-on-year to $554.6 million, with the total spend per night increasing 9.4 per cent compared to the end of June 2017 to $238.

Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer Natassia Wheeler said the results reflected the growing popularity of the Whitsundays for people living in Queensland.

“The latest data shows the Whitsundays is becoming more appealing for intrastate visitors, resulting in higher holiday spend throughout the region,” she said.

“Tourism Whitsundays continues to place a concerted effort in marketing the region to Queenslanders, which has included partnerships with Expedia, intrastate consumer travel expos, targeted marketing campaigns, media familiarisations and digital activation.

“These latest figures show our domestic marketing efforts are being recognised by Queenslanders and we remain committed to promoting the regions vast array of best-in-class visitor experiences so we can continue this upward trajectory in intrastate visitation.”

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the Whitsundays was among the best performing regions in Queensland in the data released this week.

“The data just goes to show that our strategy to grow the Whitsundays tourism sector is working,” she said.

“The Whitsundays is a jewel in the crown of Queensland tourism. I’m not surprised that we’re seeing more Aussies than ever flocking to the Whitsundays.

“We’ve seen record visitor nights and record spending this week. But with strong investment in new tourism infrastructure, we expect these figures to grow in the future.”

The strength in visitor numbers to the Whitsundays follows a record number of domestic visitors in the state, with Queensland recording a 7.3 per cent year-on-year increase in total domestic holiday visitors to 8.9 million.

Total domestic expenditure for Queensland tipped in at $17 billion, representing a 10.3 per cent increase on the prior year.