Queensland’s Regional Tourism CEOs converge on the Capricorn Coast!
Posted on July 26th, 2017
RTO CEOs from Tropical North Queensland, Townsville, Whitsundays, Mackay, Bundaberg, Southern Queensland Country, Brisbane and the Outback regions as well as representatives from Tourism and Events Queensland, Qld Tourism Industry Council and the Department of Tourism, Events, Small Business & Commonwealth Games joined me for our bi-monthly meeting in Yeppoon last Friday. Our colleagues who could not attend from Gladstone as well as the Sunshine, Gold and Fraser Coasts truly missed out on a fantastic time!
We enjoyed a tour of the Capricorn Caves, a practice rodeo and steak in the Beef Capital (Great Western Hotel), overnight in Rocky for those departing Saturday morning and Yeppoon for those heading to Great Keppel Island for the weekend! Snorkelling, kayaking, jet skiing, paddle boarding, walking, waterskiing, tubing were all on the menu and what a great time they had! Thanks particularly to Capricorn Caves for hosting their tour, Strand Hotel for hosting our meeting and lunch, the Waterline Restaurant, Keppel Bay Marina for hosting Saturday’s breakfast, Great Keppel Island Hideaway for organising a cake and champagne for one of our colleagues who celebrated her 40th Birthday!
A number of my colleagues had never visited our destination previously, with some having last visited over two decades ago.
Here is some of the great feedback:
“Thanks for the lovely Rocky hospitality. Yeppoon is now on my holiday list!”
“Mary, thanks for organising a great RTO meeting and famil around your region. I must say I am a little disappointed that the mechanical bull operator thought I was a professional bull rider and threw me so quickly!! “
“Sorry I missed most of the fun, I will definitely be back! I just shared all the cave images with my team, they were as blown away as me. Thanks for being such a great host Mary. “
“Well done, Mary. Thanks for the hospitality. You did your region proud.”
“Thank you so much for including me in the meeting and the activities over the weekend. It was wonderful to see and learn so much about the region in such a short time. I was also fortunate to have John from Little Johnny’s rentals drive my transfer from Yeppoon to Rocky. As I had plenty of time before my flight, he offered to show me more of the region and we visited the Anzac Memorial at Emu Park, St Christopher’s Chapel at Nerimbera and toured around the city of Rockhampton. His knowledge of the region is amazing and he is a great Ambassador for the Capricorn region.”
“Thank you Mary for sharing a slice of the Capricorn Coast with us! It was such a gorgeous weekend and the diversity and colour of the coral just off shore was extraordinary! My family will certainly be back to GKI for a holiday!”
“Many thanks for having us in your wonderful region. It was good fun. I’m disappointed to have missed the GKI adventure. You know how I hate to miss out!!!! The lovely Zac (& his handsome young mates) kept us entertained until closing at Headricks Lane. The video of bull riding Craig still makes me laugh out loud.”
I have to say, that introducing key influencers to our destination, often for the first time, is probably the most enjoyable part of my job. There is no better destination marketing, than showing people our part of the magnificent Southern Great Barrier Reef destination and experiencing and sharing our local passion.
