Every year, the way people travel and take in new experiences changes.  For the Bundaberg region, some of the holiday trends tipped to be favoured by travelers for 2021 presents a range of positive potential for the destination and our visitor economy.

With uncertainty around borders, this year we can expect even more Queenslanders travelling enjoying the attributes of our backyard.  With driving holidays and people wanting to stay closer to home one of the biggest travel trends that has come with COVID. Being only a short 4-hour drive from Brisbane and the population of the south east means visitors can hit the road before the morning peak hour and be here for lunch, soaking up the sunshine, with sand between their toes for a farm fresh picnic and one of our award-winning drinks in their hand.

This new year is a great time to upskill, especially when there are so many fully funded learning opportunities being delivered online as COVID support programs for Queenslanders.

With the way of doing business increasingly going digital, many of these programs are focused on upskilling to do business in a digital environment – providing fundamental skills for a new decade. 

From the CEO

What a shock this morning to get the news of the Brisbane three (3) day lockdown. 

With Brisbane our biggest visitor market into the Bundaberg Region, the phones in the VIC have been running hot this morning with cancellations for Turtles and other tours around the region, as well as other regional locals taking advantage of the Brisbane cancellations wanting to snap up turtle tickets!   

Before visitors arrive in our region to snorkel alongside giant marine life, witness a miracle on our shores as turtles’ nest and their babies hatch, taste farm-fresh produce and sip award-winning drinks, they start dreaming and planning… and that is where we come in.

Our ‘Always On’ digital and social strategy means that our team at Bundaberg Tourism are continually engaging both digitally savvy travellers and those exploring online, to influence their decision-making and encourage potential visitors to make our region their next holiday destination.

Bundaberg Tourism has created a series of assets for the tourism and business community to use to encourage Australians to come work in our region. 

As of 1:00am Wednesday 23 December, all businesses in the hospitality industry including pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes must be implementing digital record keeping of patron contact details with paper-based record keeping no longer accepted as per the the Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction.

With only one week until Christmas (how exciting!), it’s incredible to reflect on how far our local businesses and community have come since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and to see our tourism industry thriving once again.  

Thanks to the reopening of Queensland borders, all Australians and New Zealanders can now holiday in our beautiful backyard – right in time for our peak Summer period.

While we were in lockdown and sadly unable to travel, many of us spent time dreaming of all the amazing places we could go once borders reopened and with this now a reality, people are even more eager to travel this year than they were during holiday’s last year.  In fact, a recent holiday intention survey showed that more than 6 in 10 Australians intend to take a domestic holiday over summer, significantly more than 2019.  And of those Queenslanders intending to go on a holiday, 77% intend to stay in Queensland.  Great news for the Bundaberg region!   

The Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference was this year held in Margaret River, WA.  Luckily for us, Bundaberg Regional Council was one of five Councils that invested in having a satellite node, and we were able to tune in to the live conference on the big screen from the Bundaberg Multiplex.  Personally, this was perfect for me, as I was able to come and go to fit in the conference content around other work commitments.