News & Announcements

Earlier this month, our industry celebrated a major win when the Federal Government announced they would not cap the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa to 12 months; a cap that was originally proposed in the 2023 Migration Review.

This win comes off the back of significant advocacy efforts by QTIC and the Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC). Our organisations provided the Minister for Immigration with an analysis of the detrimental impacts of the proposed cap and later met with Minister Giles to stress the vital importance of long stay backpackers to tourism businesses.

It is hard to believe that we are fast approaching the end of another financial year, which means that QTIC membership renewals are just around the corner.

I would like to take a moment to thank you for your support this past financial year. Your contributions and active involvement with QTIC have made it possible for our tourism industry to have a strong and unified voice to government. Your membership has enabled us to undertake our advocacy efforts, member activities and suite of industry and workforce development programs. Thank you for your support and I hope to see you return in 2024 - 2025 as a QTIC Member.

This month saw me travelling throughout Queensland, where I had the chance to meet with QTIC members and connect with regional operators. The QTIC team flew into Rockhampton and Capricorn earlier this month, where we visited local businesses and enjoyed a sit-down breakfast with tourism operators in Yeppoon.

The latest results from Tourism Research Australia were released this month, with the numbers showing that Queensland holds the position as the nation’s leading domestic holiday market, with 28.1 per cent market share of the country’s holiday expenditure in 2023. Overall, Queensland operators once again benefited from Australians choosing to holiday in our state, with total domestic overnight visitor expenditure climbing to $28.3 billion in 2023.

We kicked off this month with our first member networking event of the year. It was fantastic to see more than 100 of our members altogether in one room – reaffirming old friendships, connecting with new faces, and making new partnerships. So much of our success is linked with collaboration and to see all sectors of our industry coming together to share ideas and to trade contact details fills me with hope for the year ahead.

For many in our tourism community, the past holiday period and start to the new year has been a very difficult one. While, as Queenslanders, we are no stranger to damaging weather events, the consecutive natural disasters that battered our coast have created a big setback for businesses. Although many operators were spared from physical damage, the loss of income through cancellations and reduced bookings has taken a major economic toll on our industry.

Dear Members,

As we approach Queensland Tourism week and the Queensland Tourism Awards, I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued support of QTIC. Your dedication to QTIC has been a cornerstone of our shared success, and I want to thank each and every one of you.

September saw me travelling to Canberra for the Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC) quarterly board meeting. Made up of all the state and territory tourism industry councils, including QTIC, our respective councils discussed the issues most affecting tourism businesses. I am sure it will come as no surprise, but top of the agenda was the ongoing skills and labour shortage as well as evolving insurance troubles.