Tourism in Queensland's regional areas is set to benefit next after the state government claimed the industry had officially rebounded from the COVID pandemic.
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But some operators are hoping the premier soon focuses on climate change in order to protect the jewel in Queensland tourism's crown - the Great Barrier Reef.
The future appears bright for Queensland tourism as industry leaders converge on Cairns in the state's far north this week.
After toasting record post-COVID numbers, the annual Tourism Week gathering will discuss priorities and trends before culminating with Friday night's industry awards.
Regional areas already appear to be a big winner, with the state government doubling funding for private tourism infrastructure.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Growing Future Tourism Fund would be boosted from $15 million to $30 million.
Regional tourism is expected to be impacted "dramatically" by the beefed up fund which will encourage more operators to expand around Queensland, with the government matching them dollar for dollar.
The premier said the priority areas were coastal marine, heritage, cultural and eco tourism as well as First Nations-operated and agri-tourism infrastructure.
"Tourism is back in Queensland. Our numbers before COVID are strongly coming back," Ms Palaszczuk said.
Queensland's tourism economy was a record $33.2 billion last financial year.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, the state tourism industry's economic contribution was $28.4 billion.
"That's an outstanding rebound from the effects of the global pandemic," Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said.
"We can see the whole of the industry grow to a $44 billion industry by 2032 and international visitation grow to being an $11 billion industry."
However more than 20 tourism operators have asked the state government to take action on climate change and raise its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
They want more to be done for the reef which the Australian Marine Conservation Society said supported a $6 billion tourism industry and 64,000 jobs.
The tourism operators said in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees - a critical threshold for reefs - the state government must triple its emission reduction target to 90 per cent by 2035.
They have asked state and federal governments to implement the 22 recommendations made by the World Heritage Committee to protect the reef.
"Queensland's current emission reduction targets are simply too low to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees," Cairns-based tourism operator Laurie Pritchard said.
"If we want to ensure a healthy reef for future generations, we must take action now and increase our climate targets."
Australian Associated Press
