With summer just around the corner, so too are the creatures that have put Bundaberg on the tourist map – the endangered loggerhead turtles who nest at Mon Repos.
Over 30,000 people witnessed the miracle of life in a Mon Repos Turtle Experience in the summer of 2016/17. This included over 4,000 international visitors, 2,600 interstate visitors and 18,000 intrastate visitors (Queenslanders who are not from Bundaberg or the North Burnett), who joined 5,000 locals at the natural phenomenon.
With just a few weeks until the much anticipated return of the turtles, Bundaberg and the surrounding region is getting ready to greet the influx of bucket-list travellers who will descend once again on our unspoiled region.
And Bundaberg will be rolling out the red carpet, with a huge selection of family-friendly turtle activities to welcome our visitors of both the aquatic and land-bound persuasion!
Tourists arriving in the region are already spotting turtles, with billboards on the Pacific Coast Way (Bruce Highway) welcoming drivers, while those flying in can have a selfie with brightly coloured turtles on the Bundaberg Airport luggage carousel, the newest addition to the welcome they receive on landing.
Local cafes will be rolling out turtle themed treats and special offers, and local shopping precincts and school classrooms will be turtle-ified. Keep your eyes peeled for the roaming turtle selfie board, where you can get pictures of yourself as a dancing loggerhead turtle, which will be popping up around the region in the coming months.
Promotions have been rolling out across the east coast to promote Bundaberg’s turtle season, including in the Courier Mail lift out Your Place, RACQ’s Road Ahead and website, through Queensland.com and in local papers across Queensland.
Katherine Reid, General Manager of Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism, said “the destinations vision has long been to become globally recognised as the place visitors go to immerse themselves in a world-class turtle conservation experience. The QPWS Rangers and Volunteers at Mon Repos do an amazing job, season after season, guiding and managing visitors for the nightly turtle encounter and the team at BNBT market and operate the booking system in partnership with QPWS.”
“With Mon Repos recognised as the largest loggerhead turtle rookery on the eastern Australian mainland and our Islands of Musgrave and Elliot also boasting turtle encounters, the turtle experience is an outstanding asset of Bundaberg and the Southern Great Barrier Reef and it’s important for the broader community to absolutely embrace the turtles as not only an economic driver for the region, but also as a beautiful warm fuzzy experience that we can call our own. When visitors come into the region, we want them to know that Bundaberg is synonymous with Turtles and everyone across the region can help to make that happen.“
Businesses and communities, both within Bundaberg and coastal areas and further afield, are encouraged to be a part of the region’s turtle welcome with free resources from Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism. A limited number of turtle decorating kits available, and a free downloadable Turtle Toolkit with tips on how to welcome our visitors as a community can be found at https://www.bundabergregion.org/corporate/marketing/opportunities.
To book your turtle experience or just for more information on this magical experience on our doorstep, go to https://www.bundabergregion.org/turtles Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger guided turtle encounters run from November – March annually.
For more information please contact:
Katherine Reid - General Manager | M: 0429 681 770 | E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Image:
Welcoming Bundaberg Visitors to Turtle Town! Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism staff are excited to see the new colourful turtles at the Bundaberg Airport.
