A coast-hugging road trip is a well-known, must-do Australian holiday, but a new tourism campaign is encouraging tourists to go west to outback Queensland.

Drive North West Queensland was developed by local councils, economic development groups and the Outback Queensland Tourism Association, and includes two self-drive routes between Cairns and Townsville.

“There’s barramundi, fishing, lava caves, there’s big cattle stations, there’s fossils at Riversleigh, there’s dinosaurs at Richmond and Winton and Boulia,” Richmond Mayor Wharton said.

The two self-driving tours launch on the coast and direct tourists to remote regions in the north-west.

“The Discovery Drive, which departs Townsville, goes to Hughenden, Winton, Boulia, Mount Isa and right back down the corridor into Townsville,” Mr Wharton said.

“And then there’s The North West Loop which starts in Cairns and comes out to Mount Garnet, Georgetown, Normanton, Karumba, Burketown, down to Cloncurry, back to Julia Creek, Richmond and Hughenden and back into Townsville.”

Mayor Wharton said the campaign has gone worldwide and is already being promoted in China through Trade and Investment Queensland offices.

‘Accessible’ outback Queensland

Anita Clark, a tourism consultant involved with the campaign, said the aim was to build awareness around the depth of experiences in north-west Queensland.

“We need to demonstrate how accessible it is because these drives are on fully sealed roads,” she said.

Source 
ABC News