International visitors are flocking to the Southern Great Barrier Reef regions with the survey results revealing an increase of 18% international visitors for the year ending September 2017.  

The International Visitor Survey, released quarterly by Tourism Research Australia gives a snapshot of the year on year results for Australia and each State, with record highs for Queensland in visitor numbers this time round.

International Visitors spent 2.7 million nights in the Southern Great Barrier Reef destinations, made up of the Bundaberg North Burnett, Gladstone and Capricorn regions.  Which is a huge 22.7% increase.  These international visitors were driven by strong growth in holiday makers, as well as visiting friends and relatives, education and business.  

The Southern Great Barrier Reef (SGBR) marketing partnership consisting of Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism, Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Ltd (GAPDL) and Capricorn Enterprise, has invested heavily in marketing the destination internationally, with a strong focus on Western hemisphere markets over the last 5 years.  This collective marketing effort is certainly paying off, with the top source markets for the region coming through as UK, with 28,000 visitors, an increase of 26% and Germany, with 26,000 visitors, showing a huge increase of 36.3% year on year.  New Zealand, USA and France round out the Top 5 for the region.

Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism General Manager, Katherine Reid, was very pleased with the Bundaberg results “Bundaberg region showed a massive growth of 33.4% in international visitor expenditure, with $52.1million spent in region by visitors.  Our accommodation, food outlets, attractions and reef experiences are all seeing increase in international visitation.
Tourism presents an extremely competitive global marketplace, and to see this sort of consistent results for international visitation and expenditure for our region is truly encouraging for our tourism industry and our collective efforts as the Southern Great Barrier Reef.  For a destination to effectively play in the international marketplace they need ‘trade ready’ accommodation, tour product and quality visitor experiences: Businesses that are ready to package, contracted with wholesalers and the ability to service different cultural needs.  With an average length of stay of 17.3 nights for international visitors in the Southern Great Barrier Reef region, tourism is definitely a strong driver of economic prosperity in the regions.”

Capricorn Enterprise Chief Executive, Mary Carroll praised the SGBR partnership stating “After years of collaborating and targeting our limited resources and funds to specific international western markets, the results speak for themselves.  Our recent investment in our first ever SGBR sales trip to Germany will build on this success.  We have seen particular growth in the UK, Germany and France markets to Great Keppel and Pumpkin Islands which have positively affected our mainland trade ready operators on the Capricorn Coast, Rockhampton region and Central Highlands.”

Darryl Branthwaite, CEO of GAPDL says “these results are a positive indication that the partnership we have with SGBR, pooling our resources, is resulting in this region developing a solid base with amazing experiences, such as Heron and Lady Musgrave Islands, which are world class, now competing on a world stage, driving our local economies, which employs approx. 9600 people across the region’s tourism industry. The future for these regions and the SGBR is incredibly bright.”

For businesses in the Bundaberg North Burnett interested in learning more about engaging with international markets, BNBT run trade workshops and mentoring programs on an annual basis. Go to www.bundabergregion.org/corporate for more information on resources available or to email your expression of interest in a program for 2018/19.

For more information please contact:

Bundaberg Katherine Reid
M: 0429 681 770 | E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Capricorn – Mary Carroll  
M: 0417 669 286 | E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Gladstone – Darryl Branthwaite  
M: 0417 638 945 | E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.