International travel trends to Queensland were discussed by Tourism Queensland's international regional directors, who were in Brisbane today to speak with the local tourism industry.

The TQ Regional Directors, who look after Queensland's key international markets including New Zealand, the UK, North America, Europe, China, Japan, the Middle East, India and South East Asia, travelled to Brisbane from around the world to update the Brisbane tourism industry on the latest trends and issues affecting their markets.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said the briefings gave Brisbane tourism operators market intelligence on Queensland's key international tourism markets in 2010 "straight from the horse's mouth".

"It has been a challenging year for the tourism industry globally and with the high Australian dollar the industry is still facing challenges," Mr Lawlor said.  "In response, our aim has been to ensure Queensland remains top-of-mind internationally, which is currently being achieved through the rollout of Queensland, Where Australia Shines and Tourism Queensland's new global social media campaign 'Passport to Shine'.

"The new global brand has already caused quite a buzz internationally and our aim is to continue to fuel that momentum with the upcoming launch of Queensland's regional marketing brands as well as tactical marketing initiatives."

Mr Lawlor said no one knew the latest trends, issues and opportunities in Queensland's key international markets better than the Tourism Queensland teams working on the ground overseas.

"Anecdotal feedback from Tourism Queensland's international offices is that the
outlook for travel to Queensland for 2011 is positive with signs of some recovery in key international markets and continued growth out of China and Continental Europe," he said.

Mr Lawlor said that in the year to June 2010, Brisbane welcomed more than 900,000 international visitors, who spent $1.4 billion on their trips.

"These market briefings are an important tool in enabling our operators to meet Tourism Queensland's international regional directors and help them gain vital
market intelligence. 

Editor's Comments: It really looks like Brisbane is getting itself nicely ready for 2011.  There certainly is some money currently being thrown at tourism, isn't there?   I can't wait for our new TTNQ brand being released on November 3rd, even though our tourism bodies are not apparently backing it with any promotional funds until March.  I'm hoping that when the brand is released we'll also be told how it's going to help us ride out the next 6 months and on into a great 2011, 'cos I'm sure they've got a plan.