Townsville tourism the talk of town
Big ideas to draw more people here
FRESH, innovative tourism ideas have got Townsville talking about how to draw more visitors to the region.
A recent post in a popular Townsville community forum on Facebook calling for new businesses in the region received hundreds of suggestions to enhance Townsville’s retail, recreational and entertainment prospects.
Drive- in theatres, theme parks, skate parks and even alternative venues for live music were all posted as ideas to enhance Townsville’s best assets for locals and tourists alike.
Local business owner Steve Moir called for residents and fellow business owners to pitch their tourism ideas last month to attract a wider demographic of tourists from Europe and the US.
He brought his plea to the Bulletin to promote new ideas about how to bring people to Townsville.
Mr Moir said promoting Townsville’s beaches, food, accommodation and attractions to wealthy Western countries would increase the appeal for not only the existing back- packer market, but for older travellers or families that are more likely to enjoy different aspects of the region.
“I thought about newspaper ads in leading newspapers, tantalising people in freezing cold France, Denmark, Finland or Belgium,” Mr Moir said.
“They’d be saying ‘ I’m saving my money to go to Townsville’ because they’ve never heard of the place, because we don’t get our fair go.”
Townsville Enterprise Tourism and Events Director Bridget Woods said the process of expanding the city’s tourism messaging was more complex than simply placing advertisements in international newspapers.
“We have markets that we’re focused on and we market to the destinations with the budgets that work best for us,” she said. “When going into new markets, we follow the lead of Tourism and Events Queensland.
“The priority international markets for us at the moment are New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and now into Singapore.”
Ms Woods said TEL was focused on parts of the world that had direct or near- direct air access to Townsville, adding that advertising and marketing resources required leverage with state budgets.
“It’s an education process and the budgets required are huge. It’s a whole supply chain that needs to be considered,” she said.
While it appears unlikely a significant portion of Townsville’s tourism marketing budget will be thrown at Europe and the US, Ms Woods said they were not ignored.
“We currently receive over 20,000 international visitors per year from the UK and Germany. They are our strongest markets,” she said.
“We do work with the North American market directly with the edu- tourism program we run, working with students and universities with Study Abroad programs.” Do you have a great tourism idea? Email mediarelease@townsvillebulletin.com.au with “TOURISM DRIVE” in the subject line.