The Whitsundays remains one of Australia’s biggest regional tourism hotspots, based on the latest data.
Tourism Research Australia today released an update on regional tourism and placed the north Queensland region’s tourist sector among the biggest drivers of local economies in the country.
It found tourism revenue in the Whitsundays accounted for 12 percent of the region’s economy and 22 percent of all jobs.
Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said the economic value of tourism grew by 97 percent in the regions in 2022-23, with more than half of regional communities seeing growth of above 50 percent on the previous year.
“It is clear, that tourism continues to be the lifeblood of our regions, with the sector directly accounting for 6.7 percent of jobs versus 2.9 percent in capital cities,” Minister Farrell said.
Other top performing regions included Kangaroo Island, in South Australia, where tourism revenue accounted for 27 per cent of the region’s local economy and 38 percent of all jobs on the island and Phillip Island, in Victoria, where tourism was 18 percent of the economy and delivered 30 percent of all jobs.
