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Queensland's Outback and Western Downs experience bumper winter season

The Outback and Western Downs regions are having a bumper winter season with visitor information centres in region reporting domestic tourists are visiting in droves

The Outback and Western Downs regions are having a bumper winter season with visitor information centres in region reporting domestic tourists are visiting in droves, Queensland Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced.

Mr Lawlor said local tourism operators' feedback was that while the Outback and Western Downs had been a little quiet during autumn, winter bookings were looking busy.

"The Outback's visitor information centres have reported 47,115 travellers passed through the region between May and June this year," Mr Lawlor said.

"In June alone, 9,064 travellers visited the Central West while 6,495 visited the North West, 6,942 visited the South West and 4,379 visited the Far West of the region according to visitor information centre data.

"Outback accommodation operators' feedback agrees with the figures, as operators are saying they are full for the next few months.

"The story is much the same in the Western Downs with the region reporting a bounce back this winter.

"Visitor numbers are in keeping with previous years with some operators saying they are experiencing record numbers for June."

Mr Lawlor said the successful winter season could be a result of a television commercial which was launched in March by Tourism Queensland in association with many of the local councils and regional tourism organisations in the Outback and Western Downs.

"The $100,000 television commercial encouraged people to visit Queensland's inland destinations while it looked its greenest after the summer rains," he said.

"The advertisement was part of an Outback marketing campaign - ‘Outback Autumn 2010' - which also involved direct-mail marketing and advertising in several city and regional newspapers and trade magazines, plus a website component via www.adventureoutback.com.au where people could make holiday bookings.

"The television commercial coupled with other Outback marketing activity conducted as part of the ‘Outback Autumn 2010' campaign has shown some positive results with 13,420 page views recorded for www.adventureoutback.com.au and website visitation exceeding its key performance indicator achieving 9,382 visits.

"These website visits equated to a 17.9 percent operator conversion rate, outperforming previous campaigns."

Mr Lawlor said it was campaigns such as these which showcased the beauty and appeal of Queensland's Outback and Western Downs, and lured tourists to these areas.

"Queensland's Outback and Western Downs are renowned for their big-hearted people as well as their big open spaces," he said.

"The Outback and Western Downs' awe-inspiring landscapes, friendly locals, adventure experiences and abundance of wildlife, desert flowers and greener pastures following the summer rains are drawing countless domestic visitors to the region.

"In the year ending March 2010, the Outback welcomed 378,000 domestic visitors while the Western Downs saw 281,000 domestic visitors come to the region.

"We hope to see these figures increase over this financial year, hopefully with the help of future marketing activity.