by Mat Churchill

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree will receive a branding toolkit from Tourism Queensland on 4 November, allowing our area to maximise the potential for the new 'Queensland, where Australia shines' campaign.

But according to TPDD's Chairman Wendy Morris, and Executive Officer Doug Ryan, there are no plans to implement a marketing campaign incorporating the new branding until March or April next year.

This while our businesses brace for what is expected to be one of the toughest wet seasons in years thanks partly to a rampant Aussie dolllar.

"We need to concentrate on getting Queensland's name out there," Mr Ryan said.

Mr Ryan sees the 'Queensland, where Australia shines' campaign as an effective mechanism to attract both international and domestic travellers.

"I think it's great and it's been a long time coming," he said. "The UK is doing it tough, but reports out of Europe, especially in Germany and Scandinavian countries have been positive through the wholesalers.

When questioned why the area won't receive any marketing support pertaining to the new branding prior to the expected down turn in visitors before Christmas, Ms Morris said "We want to get the biggest bang for our buck."

One of TPDD's goals and key areas of focus is to "...extend the tourism season towards a full 12 months by initially filling the shoulder seasons."

Ken Dobbs, President of the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce, said the inability to attract tourists to the area year round has always been a problem.

"I agree we're heading into a tough time," he said. "The debate about 'off-season' marketing has been going on for 15 years. No one's got the answer."

The success of branding campaigns in attracting people to our area has been thrown into question after recent efforts such as TQ's 'Change your latitude' campaign, and TA's 'There's nothing like Australia' launched earlier this year, which has apparently not yet been promoted and customised for TPDD members.

Some local businesses from the tourism and hospitality industry have expressed their frustration in an apparent lack of support in promoting Port Douglas and surrounds.

We'd love to hear your ideas on how to attract tourists to our area year round.

Editor's Comments: UK is doing it tough and yet the Peter Lawlor Qld State Tourism Minister is still taking a trip there as we speak to spend $1m to launch the new TQ 'Where Australia shines" campaign.  If we are also to get a new TTNQ brand on 4th November but we haven't got the resource to promote it until March or April next year, which leaves us having to fend for ourselves for another 5 maybe 6 months, shouldn't that $1m have been redirected to fund an immediate domestic relief campaign instead of wasting it overseas. 

There are two sides to the Aussie dollar being so strong.  The down side is that international visitors are struggling to afford a holiday here because the costs have risen for their currency but the up side is that domestic prosperity and employment down south is on the up and up.   So to stem the exodus of potential domestic holidaymakers from going overseas surely we need some rapid reaction solutions during the shoulder period and beyond.