Ray of sunshine for operators

QUEENSLAND tourism operators are celebrating an early summer bookings surge thanks to a bold new holiday campaign. Millions of dollars in sales bookings and tens of thousands of deals have been snapped up in just five days of the Great Queensland Getaway.

Tourism and Events Queensland launched the campaign on Monday, with

$3m worth of tours and experiences purchased in the first 48 hours.

Holiday-hungry Queenslanders are using the campaign promo codes to get 50 per cent off tours and attractions, Virgin Australia airfares from as low as $75, travel deals from Greyhound Australia and accommodation specials from Accor, My Queensland and Viva Holidays.

Owner of Pilgrim Sailing at Magnetic Island Island, Clare Ley, Ley said the response had “been insane”.

“There’s been a lot of work, but it’s well worth it,” she said.

“It means I can provide my crew with certainty … the certainty of bookings is great. Of course, we’ll always have challenges with the weather, but knowing we have forward bookings is amazing.”

Julie Telford, who runs Red Cat Adventures at Airlie Beach with husband Asher, said they’d had their busiest booking day of the year on Tuesday.

“The great thing is these deals are going for a long period of time. Not everyone can travel outside school holidays, so for us to have the sale until the end of January is super helpful.”

Queenslanders with promo codes are urged to make their bookings soon to avoid missing out.