This year’s TNQ Tourism Conference brought together the themes of the disruption we are experiencing in the visitor economy, and the transformation we are seeking through the launch of the region’s Destination Management Plan to 2045.
A strong lineup of speakers helped the industry to get ready to navigate ‘Transformation in the Age of Disruption’ at the My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference at Shangri-La The Marina, Cairns last week. Attended by 180 people, the conference featured panel sessions on business events, major events, international marketing and TNQ’s food story, while marketing insights were given by Tourism Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland and TTNQ.
The event was the perfect opportunity to launch our Draft Destination Management Plan, TNQ 2045, which sets out our bold ambition to become a $10 billion visitor economy through ecotourism, adventure and growth in key international markets. Our starting point is strong, remaining the No1 tropical holiday and events destination in Australia. The challenge, however, is to hold our share of the lucrative domestic market and regain lost share in key international markets.
Tourism and Events Queensland Group Marketing Executive Kim McConnie praised the TNQ tourism industry for working in partnership with TEQ to help deliver 14,000 pieces of rich content stories that showcase the breadth of the state. TEQ’s That Holiday Feeling campaign launched on 25 May to drive urgency to book now and give Australians a reason to holiday at home, dominating the country at a time when most of it is moving into winter. It runs to 31 July and conversion partnerships will be the critical layer with a $100 regional experience incentive through partners RACQ and Experience Oz for bookings over $200.
TTNQ General Manager Marketing Lani Cooper highlighted the crowded marketing environment and challenge of a 6% growth in outbound travel. This financial year, TTNQ has invested $2 million into domestic marketing achieving $13.4 million in visitor expenditure and $1.3 million into international achieving $150 million in overnight visitor expenditure to date. Project Reef funded by the Federal Government aims to put the Great Barrier Reef on every traveller’s next list by raising awareness, educating and shifting negative perceptions to show how their visit helps to protect the Reef for future generations.
Forward bookings are tracking ahead of the last two years, despite soft spots like the Gulf of Carpentaria. Flight searches are holding strongly with a spike in searches at Easter and as fuel prices rose and are continuing to grow. Holding market share will be a challenge for TNQ while growing the shoulder seasons continues to be a focus.
Keynote speaker Katrina McCarter, a customer insight strategist, discussed the importance of understanding customers and the generation they belong to as key to achieving long-term customer relationships and revenue growth. The audience came away with an understanding of how each generation used AI in travel planning by learning their defining characteristics and behaviours and the channels they preferred. Despite a 3500% growth in AI generative traffic to travel websites in the 12 months to July 2025, word of mouth is still king with 53% saying it’s their No1 source.
Katrina suggested TNQ target Baby Boomers who have 48% of the wealth at their disposal, as 80% of Baby Boomers are happy to pay for their child’s next trip, and
78% are happy to pay for grandchildren’s next trip. This region is an ideal three generation destination with the Great Barrier Reef, for example, offering experiences for all three generations. “What is your grandma strategy because she is the one who will make that decision,” she said. Focus on their preferred platforms such as Facebook, invest heavily in content marketing, put Boomer women in your imagery, lead with culinary experiences, and ensure TripAdvisor and Google are up to date.
Ignite Travel Group’s Head of Marketing Rachael Walker discussed how packaging moved away from a price focus to the holiday experience by tapping into emotions
and giving consumers a reason to say yes by giving good value. My Queensland’s campaigns tended to be in market for a four-week period to convert customers quickly.
She said successful campaigns for My Queensland were about all partners coming together – the tourism body, airline and tourism suppliers.
Tourism Australia’s Head of Social Media and Content Emily Eliot said understanding your two audiences – humans and machine – was critical. There is a need for enduring SEO, but it must be complemented with generative engine optimisation (GEO) tactics to ensure your information is being sighted in AI answers. Reach is no longer determined by follower count but by how content is resonating with people. Their watch time, and whether they are saving and sharing it are key as if it is happening it will be shown to more similar people.
Emilia Ball and Rachel Knight from dentsu Qld said it was important to show up as Team Queensland to combat changing search and booking behaviours. They encouraged a focus on moving beyond traditional search engines. By the end of the year, 80% of searches will end without a click through, with decision making narrowing early on and searches turning into a loop. Creative is the new targeting as 90% of views come from audiences that don’t follow you.
Keynote speaker Edwin Smith, a social media strategist, agreed that the current algorithm did not care about the number of followers you had. “It cares about how your content makes them feel. Followers don’t equal business,” he said. Funny behind-the scenes moments were often the secret to engaging content.
Senator Nita Green opened the conference, it was closed by Assistant Tourism Minister Bree James, and the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation Director-General Patricia O’Callaghan spoke at the networking function.
Thank you to conference sponsors My Queensland, dentsu Qld, cobber, PayPal and nbn local.
Mark Olsen
Chief Executive Officer