Gladstone Tourism Operators Helped to Recover and Grow 

Martin Ferguson
Minister for Resources and Energy
Minister for Tourism

Jan Jarratt
Queensland Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business

A series of free workshops to help tourism businesses recover and return to growth, following the floods and Cyclone Yasi, will take place throughout Queensland over the coming months, as part of the joint Federal and Queensland $12 million tourism industry recovery package.

Federal Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson and Queensland Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt said the Tourism Capacity Program workshops, run by Tourism Queensland from 3 May, aimed to support tourism operators in the Gladstone region as they continue the recovery process following the major weather events of earlier this year.

Minister Ferguson said the workshops were one of a number of initiatives being rolled out to assist the Queensland tourism industry in its recovery efforts.

"Tourism Australia and Tourism Queensland have been working closely on a range of marketing activities to urge travellers to make plans to holiday in Queensland and so far this is generating good results,” Minister Ferguson said.

“However we also want to equip tourism operators with the latest information that will help them to recover and return their businesses to sustainable growth.

“Through the Tourism Capacity Program workshops we want to give tourism businesses the capacity to boost the recovery efforts of their businesses in a very practical ways,” Minister Ferguson said.

Ms Jarratt said the Tourism Capacity Program would provide tourism operators with a range of skills to allow them to develop and implement their own recovery strategies.

“The program has been developed by Tourism Queensland and Tourism Australia, with the support of local regional tourism organisations, and is jointly funded by the Federal and State Government $12 million global tourism recovery strategy,” Ms Jarratt said.

“There is no doubt the floods and cyclones that hit Queensland earlier this year impacted the tourism industry either directly or through perception.

“The great news is that most tourism operators are well on the road to recovery.

“However the aim of the Tourism Capacity Program is to support individual tourism operators with the tools to grow their businesses, so all tourism operators will find these workshops invaluable.”

Ms Jarratt said the workshops would cover a wide range of topics such as web optimisation, online marketing education, tourism marketing, online reputation management and grants.

“The web optimisation workshop for example, will provide participants with the tools to create an effective online strategy, starting with the basics of a successful tourism website, techniques for simple social media activity and online booking options.

“I encourage all local tourism operators to attend their local Tourism Capacity Program workshops and help their businesses recover and grow.”

For more information or to register, tourism operators should contact Maria McDougall on 07 3535 5255 or maria.mcdougall@tq.com.au.

Workshops and dates are listed below: