Newman Doubles Tourism Funding To Regions

State funding for tourism organisations in regional Queensland will be doubled to help prop up the ailing industry.

Premier Campbell Newman told the DestinationQ conference in Cairns today the funding would increase from $3.11 million to $7 million through a redirection of resources as the industry struggles to attract tourists.

But he says the government can't afford to just "throw buckets of money" at the industry to help it compete with the high Australian dollar and neighbouring countries.

"Simply preserving what we have will not meet the challenges of the future," he told the 300-plus crowd.

"We can't afford to sit with the status quo and it won't get us to where we want to go."
Mr Newman had campaigned about tourism being one of the major pillars of Queensland's economy during the lead up to the state election.

He told tourism operators the conference was about coming up with a new way forward for the state's tourism as he promised to do in his first 100 days in government.

Some of the conference's major focuses will include reducing red tape, attracting and retaining skilled workers in the industry, marketing strategies and how national parks were operated.
The forum, which several ministers including deputy premier Jeff Seeney are attending, was welcomed by tourism bodies.

Accommodation Association of Australia CEO Richard Munro said it was important for frontline operators to be able to air their grievances directly to government.

"It's important for governments at all levels to put in place policies which promote investment in both existing and new tourism accommodation products which do not adversely impact on operators", Mr Munro said in a statement.

QantasLink Boosts Seat Numbers

QantasLink has announced it will increase its capacity between Brisbane and three central Queensland airports from this month.

The expansion will allow additional capacity between Brisbane and Mackay and Brisbane and Rockhampton and new services into Gladstone.

An additional 572 seats will be available between Mackay and Brisbane.

Executive manager Narendra Kumar says more upgrades are scheduled for central Queensland destinations over the coming months.

"It's in response to demand from the regional communities and industries, including the resource sector, and ensuring that we are putting on ample capacity at the required times," he said.

"I think it's important that we are putting on capacity when people want to travel and ensuring that we grow in line with how the markets are growing in central Queensland."

Kylie Porter from the Mackay Chamber of Commerce says while it is welcome news for the region, she says Qantas needs to commit to servicing the area at its full capacity.

"Just because there may be that slight downward pitch in the economy doesn't actually mean that business or the transactions that we need to do every single day to conduct business dries up," she said.

"We still need to get to Brisbane, we still need to be able to get from Brisbane to other major centres and it would be great to be able to do that with a reliable national carrier."