Metro Hotel Tower Mill is offering this Ekka Citing Package including:
Accommodation for two in an Executive Twin or Double Room (Family rooms available upon request*)
Full Buffett Breakfast for two
Late Check-out 12 pm
Metro Hotel Tower Mill, Brisbane: Ekka Citing at Metro Hotel Tower Mill @ Metro Hotel Tower Mill - Metro Hotels
Australia Accommodation
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tourism Queensland Inks Deal With Singapore Airlines to Boost Tourism
Singapore Airlines and Tourism Queensland recently signed an agreement to jointly promote tourism to Queensland through the airline’s services to Brisbane. According to a press release, under the four-year agreement, which took effect from July 1, 2011, Singapore Airlines and Tourism Queensland will fund a range of campaigns and promotional activities aimed at driving tourism to the north-eastern Australian state. Key markets covered under the agreement include China, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Scandinavia and Singapore.Tan Chik Quee, Senior Vice-President - Marketing, Singapore Airlines, said that the partnership with Tourism Queensland reflected the airline’s long-term commitment to the Australian market.
Jan Jarratt, Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, Queensland, said, “Singapore Airlines is an important aviation partner with access to many key international markets and its network will help Queensland achieve its goal of attracting more travellers.”
Singapore Airlines operates 92 flights a week to five Australian cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and 19 flights weekly to Brisbane from Singapore by Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
Brisbane Boring? Here's What You're Missing
The city has a lot more to offer than it did 30 years ago when Daniel Gschwind first came to the place. The chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council says his first impression was very disappointing.
"I was expecting a coastal city with a magnificent river flowing through it, but it was very difficult to see it (the river) and certainly very limited opportunities to experience any of it,'' he says.
There was no outdoor dining, most places closed by 6 o'clock on weekdays and there was nothing to do on a weekend. (Now restaurants scramble to be included on divine alfresco dining lists and hot spots are open earlier and later than ever before.)
"Now I think a visitor, and a local for that matter, can experience a vibrant, lively and beautiful city that has turned its way towards the river and that recognises the great natural attractions it has in it and near it.''
He points to the lush forests packed with birds wildlife that fringes Brisbane's western suburbs and the beautiful Moreton Bay to the east with its turtles, dugongs and occasional whale visitor.
The city itself now offers plenty of dining opportunities so that there are tough choices to be made on where to find Brisbane's best pizzas, where to sample European fare or whether it's time to take in the river with the pick of waterfront dining.
And if you want to get away from it all, there are plenty of hole-in-the wall joints popping up that are adding flair to Brisbane's sip scene. Those cocktails or beers also wash down bar snacks that are no longer confined to a bowl of peanuts, but rather are a sophisticated selection of nibbles that in recent times have competed on the city's culinary scene.
As well, there is a rich cultural scene with a range of shopping, outdoor markets, music and arts, especially along the river side.
"South Bank is a major piece of infrastructure that would have to be amongst the best pieces of urban infrastructure you will see anywhere,'' he says.
Part of the problem though, he says, is making people aware of what Brisbane does have to offer.
"What we probably don't do as well as we might is making them accessible to the visitor who doesn't have any local connections'' he says.
Mr Gschwind's comments follow criticism by Tourism Queensland head Anthony Hayes that Brisbane does not have enough permanent attractions to draw in more visitors.
There was criticism too that nothing had been done on 10 major catalyst projects identified in a plan three years ago to help boost tourism in the city and surrounding area.
Mr Gschwind says adding more attractions to the city would be good but he says the high Australian dollar is making it difficult to attract overseas visitors, and Australian tourists are heading for cheaper foreign destinations.
"The business and convention market for Brisbane is actually going quite well,'' he says. "It's the leisure market that's suffering and that is a phenomena that's affecting the whole state, if not the while nation.''
So what is there to do in Brisbane?
The place is packed with attractions - many of them free - and there's always something on offer.
If the weather's fine then it's outdoors in some of the most beautiful locations in Australia. From Mt Coot-tha to Mt Nebo and on to Mt Glorious there are plenty of lookouts and walks in the forest to enjoy the bird and wildlife.
A short ferry ride across Moreton Bay reveals some stunning locations on Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island that rival some of the better-known tourist attractions further north on the Queensland coast.
The whale watching off the bay is getting better each year.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Brisbane 'Needs More Tourist Attractions' to Keep Visitors Coming
- Tourism boss says Brisbane just an events city
- Call for more accommodation and attractions
- Visitor nights in Queensland have fallen
BRISBANE has been warned it lacks the permanent tourist attractions to become the new world city that it claims to be.
Only weeks after the city was jam-packed for a festival of football matches and major conferences, the state's tourism boss said visitors weren't thinking about Brisbane outside of special events.
The city, devastated by floods in January, has struggled to maintain its visitor numbers despite an upbeat feeling fuelled by the Maroons' stirring State of Origin win, the Reds' Super Rugby triumph and the Surrealism exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art.
Riverlife owner John Sharp backed the call for more accommodation options in Brisbane, saying business travellers and major events often meant it was difficult for tourists to find a bed in the city.
The investment and infrastructure plan was supposed to help guide the State Government's 10-year tourism strategy and called for two new five-star hotels and major piers in Brisbane and an aquarium on Moreton Bay.
The Bligh Government focused its recent Budget spend on an $83 million bid to lure more events to the state in the next four years.
Mr Hayes said interstate visitors needed more excuses to visit Brisbane and he said tourists loved the city once they arrived.
The malaise is affecting the rest of the state with the Tourism Transport and Industry Forum warning this month the Sunshine State was suffering from perceptions it was "either under water or had been blown away in the first three months of 2011".
The latest National Visitor Survey reveals domestic visitor nights in Queensland had fallen by a quarter compared to 3 per cent growth in the rest of the country.
Occupancy on the Gold Coast was down by 4 per cent (66 per cent) and at 52 per cent in Cairns.
International visits (January-March) also declined by 5 per cent.
Budding Brisbane must find ways to bloom
BRISBANE may have shaken off its "cow town" image but interstate people still need an excuse to visit, according to Tourism Queensland boss Anthony Hayes.
Even the travel books that once criticised the city as a backwater are now on board after Lonely Planet this week said Brisbane was redefining itself as a foodie destination with a vibrant cafe scene.
It's a far better review than Perth, "the home of cashed-up bogans living off the mining boom".
But three years after a report recommended 10 major tourism projects to kick-start the industry and provide a catalyst for up to 80 more projects in Brisbane, none have been done.
Mr Hayes says interstate people don't think badly of the city, they just don't think about it at all.
He said Brisbane was now a "new world city", but without major attractions like the Gallery of Modern Art's Surrealism exhibition there was no reason to visit.
However, once people came, their attitudes changed, he said.
"A lot of people have not formed an opinion (of Brisbane), but a lot of that negativity of the past, like it was trapped in 1974, has gone, but they don't know what it is.
"We need to give them an excuse. The events (like the Surrealism exhibition) are the excuse to come here, otherwise why would you come to Brisbane for a weekend?"
Mr Hayes also said he was disappointed that none of the 10 catalyst projects had been achieved, but he said some were not realistic.
Former lord mayor Jim Soorley said Brisbane could never be criticised as boring but admitted it could be better advertised.
"Why doesn't (Brisbane) pull their finger out and do an advertising campaign like Melbourne's?" Mr Soorley said.
"I was there last week and it was cold and miserable but they have had a very successful campaign."
He said the Gold Coast's law and order issues were also a problem for Queensland tourism, an issue Mr Hayes recognised but said was being overcome.
"If you asked five years ago I would have said we have some work ahead of us, but now we are halfway through the work. There's a lot of good stuff going on."
Gold Coast tourism has also been slashed by a dramatic change in habits, with Australians scrapping the idea of a long holiday.
Mr Hayes said visitations to the Gold Coast were still strong but spending had been slashed by 11 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, probably because people feared losing their job or were concerned about finances.
"The traditional two-to-three week holiday is not happening. People are coming for shorter breaks, whether it's because of uncertainty or there's a focus on putting more money in the bank."
SUGGESTED 'MISSING' ATTRACTIONS
1. Internationally significant indigenous visitor attraction on South Bank;
2. Aquarium and Marine Discovery Centre on a centrally located river frontage site;
3. Story of Brisbane at Mt Coot-tha;
4. Development of Brisbane River Piers;
5. Relocation and redevelopment of Cruise Terminal;
6. Two major international brand 5-6 star hotels to be built at Victoria Park and a downtown CBD location;
7. Ipswich Railway Heritage precinct development with convention centre;
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8. Developing a major walk with associated huts and high quality lodge accommodation infrastructure in the Scenic Rim;
9. Creation of a new ferry terminal for Moreton Bay Islands on Brisbane River; and
10. Creation of an eco-resort on Moreton Island.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Tourism Queensland head Anthony Hayes said Brisbane was an events city and without major permanent attractions there was "no excuse" for tourists to visit.
Three years after a report recommended 10 major tourism projects to kickstart the industry, none had been completed.
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Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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