Longreach calls for all destination marketing to cease

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Longreach Regional Council has written to Tourism authorities requesting they immediately cease all destination marketing promoting Outback Queensland.

In a letter to Outback Queensland Tourism, Acting Mayor Leonie Nunn has requested that the organisation use its marketing power to promote messages that actively discourages people from non-essential travel. She said outback towns were still being promoted on social media some 48 hours after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk asked Queenslanders to “stay in your suburb”.

“We have to make sure that visitors don’t try to sit out the pandemic in our communities. There are people out there that think they can escape the pandemic in Outback Queensland. Communities across the outback are genuinely concerned, and in the meantime, there are still messages on Instagram encouraging people to experience the outback.

“At any other time we’d love to have them, but not now.”

She said it was ironic that tourism authorities were best placed to discourage non-essential travel.

“It’s truly strange times we’re living in – the very marketing machine that we rely on to attract people is now the best tool we have to deter them.”

Council announced it was closing its camping areas and visitor information centres on Monday in response to the pandemic.

Council is encouraging anyone who wants to stay informed about the pandemic to make use of official sites such as qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19 and health.gov.au.