Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) is the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

's lead marketing, experience development and major events agency, representing the state's tourism and events industries. TEQ operates on a national and international level, looking at new and innovative ways to make the most out of emerging opportunities which benefit

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

's tourism industry and economy.

Background

The agency commenced life as the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation in 1978. It was set up by the government of Sir

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

on the recommendation of a government inquiry, headed by businessman Frank Moore (later Sir Frank). Moore was the first chair of the corporation 1978–90.

Structure

Tourism and Events Queensland is located at 515 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley. The Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games (DTESB) was created on 3 April 2012, following the state election. DTESB, which also includes the Office of Small Business, leads whole-of-government tourism initiatives and recognises the essential role of partnerships with industry and government in tourism industry development. The portfolio partners include: The Tourism Group of Tourism and Events Queensland, The Events Group of Tourism and Events Queensland and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation.

Activities

Tourism and Events Queensland collects statistics related to tourism in Queensland. Focus areas include source markets, destination markets and aviation. The department has developed a Queensland tourism and travel advice website called
Queensland
. Through the website, TEQ provides information and travel guides on Queensland's 13 regional tourism destinations: *

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Whitsunday Islands The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands ar ...

* Mackay *

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

*Capricorn *

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Fraser Coast Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...

* Sunshine Coast *

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

* Gold Coast *Southern Queensland Country *Outback Queensland The agency also periodically also releases reports based on studies on niche markets, for example,

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

and Bed and breakfast markets.

Promotions

The agency was responsible for the successful promotion campaign for Hamilton Island that was dubbed the ' Best job in the world' which received over $200M AUD in global media value, won 3 Cannes Lion advertising awards, and is cited as a viral marketing success. The 2009 Unreal Deals campaign was the agency's most successful domestic retail campaign ever. Other campaigns have targeted the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, tropical

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

and the Whitsundays. In 2019, Queensland Premier,

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

, declared 2019 ‘The Year of Outback Tourism’ and announced a $3 million campaign to promote holiday destinations across the Queensland Outback. Additionally, a $10 million Queensland Outback Tourism Infrastructure Fund was announced to fund a range of ‘Outback Tourism’ projects, including luxury glamping and a glass-floored bridge crossing Cobbold Gorge in Queensland’s Gulf Savannah region. In 2019, over 1 million visitors travelled to Regional Queensland. TEQ’s next campaign, ‘The Year of Indigenous Tourism’, was announced by the

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

in November 2019. To support the 2020 campaign, the

committed $10 million to create tourism jobs for Indigenous Queenslanders. An additional $200,000 was announced for a ‘Year of Indigenous Tourism Festivals and Events Fund’ to showcase Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

Culture. The campaign was extended to 2021. Tourism and Events Queensland’s most recent campaign, ‘Good to Go’, was launched during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to encourage domestic tourism. This campaign involved transport, accommodation, experiences and activity operators completing a ‘COVID Safe program’ to provide safe experiences for visitors.

Key Partnerships

Tourism and Events Queensland has engaged in several key partnerships with the Queensland Government and the state’s tourism industry, including DestinationQ. This strategic partnership promotes ongoing engagement between the tourism industry and government with the aim of identifying and agreeing on key priorities to drive future Queensland tourism industry growth and jobs. A key aspect of the partnership is the annual DestinationQ Forum and Destination Success; a long-term 20-year plan for the Queensland tourism industry.

Strategic Focus on Asian Travellers

Tourism and Events Queensland developed the ‘Queensland Asia Tourism Strategy 2016-2025’ to attract more Asian travellers to Queensland, meet the needs of visitors and promote the state’s local tourism operators and regional tourism organisations. China is now the largest and most valuable international visitor market for the state’s tourism industry, with 397,000 Chinese visitors spending almost $1.3 billion in Queensland in the year ending March 2020.

References

External links

Tourism Queensland
Official Corporate website
Queensland
Official Public website {{Authority control 1979 establishments in Australia APRA Award winners Government agencies established in 1979 Government agencies of Queensland Tourism in Queensland Tourism organisations in Australia