A tourism campaign launched on Friday to boost visitor numbers to Townsville has already sold out, according to the Queensland Government.
Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals and Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart says the ‘Mates Rates’ campaign, which offered 50% off tourism experiences, was launched to help drive visitors to Townsville tourism businesses struggling from cancellations and low forward bookings following the impacts of recent weather events.
The program is an initiative of Tourism and Events Queensland and Townsville Enterprise Limited.
“Thank you to Townsville people for supporting local businesses with such enthusiasm, a fast sell-out is an excellent outcome for businesses across the region,” said Minister Stewart.
“With several severe weather events hitting North Queensland recently, we heard from local businesses loud and clear that they needed our support to bring visitors in the immediate short term and we have acted on that swiftly.
“It is great that we’ve been able to set up a flow of visitors for the region to help businesses through to the next school holiday period and beyond.”
Tourism and Events Queensland Chief Executive Officer, Patricia O’Callaghan said the campaign had been a great opportunity for Townsvillians to grab a great deal.
“It’s awesome to see how much demand there has been and really good for businesses to have those visitors locked in over the coming weeks and months to support cash-flow during some hard times,” she said.
“With several other marketing activities still underway for Townsville, as well as some exciting events coming up and Easter really just around the corner, we hope to see confidence building across the local tourism industry.
“Locals who missed out can still go to Queensland.com and grab one of the more than 500 ‘Unmissable Deals’ available right around the state, with great airfares still available for another 24 hours through Virgin Australia and TEQ’s sale.”
Townsville Enterprise Chief Executive Officer, Claudia Brumme-Smith thanked the Queensland Government for their support for the region.
“Campaigns such as this go to show that when we advocate with our business community for practical solutions, we know we can be successful as a region,” she said.
“We thank the state government and our local members for their support of this region.
“We know our community will continue support local, and this has never been more important as we gear up for one of the biggest years of events this region has ever seen. There is no better staycation than in North Queensland.”
