Workers and families in the Mt Isa region are being lured to Tropical North Queensland with discount flights and holiday packages during summer.

Tourism business development company Parker Travel Collection has formed an alliance with Skytrans to present the first of a series of holiday campaigns with special fares on the four weekly air services from Mt Isa to Cairns starting at $99 one way.

Skytrans Queensland Hot Deals accommodation packages are available in Cairns city, at the beaches, Port Douglas, Daintree and Green Island with prices starting at $130 for three nights. Tour packages are also on offer with reef and rainforest trips, plus some of Tropical North Queensland’s iconic attractions on offer.

Parker Travel Collection Managing Director Todd Parker said the campaign was the first of its kind in regional Queensland where an innovative approach was needed to sell holidays during summer.

“A holiday at the beach, a rainforest sojourn or a city getaway is ideal for the Mt Isa market and we already have the advantage of frequent Skytrans connections, so Tropical North Queensland is the perfect place for families and mine company employees to take a break,” he said.

“This is the beginning of a mining and regional strategy for Parker Travel Collection and we are very proud to be working so closely with Skytrans to develop a long-term sales solution for regional Queensland.”

Skytrans Commercial Manager Steve Jones said the Skytrans Queensland Hot Deals campaign between Mt Isa and Tropical North Queensland was the first step in the company’s goal to develop a Skytrans Holidays division satisfying all the ports within the network with accommodation, attractions, touring and holiday packages. 

“This would increase the use of Skytrans flights and establish us as a pioneer in developing Central, Regional and Tropical North Queensland from a tourism perspective while working hand in hand with the growth in the mining and agriculture sectors.

“We are very excited about the long-term development of an airline holiday product range for a very unique market.

“The team at Parker Travel Collection offers the infrastructure, products, experience and skills to develop this range and, as they are already actively involved in developing saleable tourism in central Queensland, we can capitalise on this and then grow further into Cape York Peninsula.”

Mr Jones said the Skytrans Queensland Hot Deals brochure would be distributed on all Skytrans Flights and by travel agencies and companies in the region.

Pictured above: Mike Thinee - General Manager Commerical, Todd Parker - Managing Director, Parker Travel Collection, Steve Jones - Manager Commericial, Muralee Siva - CEO

In 2012, Tropical North Queensland will experience one of the world’s great astronomical events – a total solar eclipse.

On the morning of Wednesday 14 November 2012, the earth will be plunged into darkness as the moon passes in front of the sun.

This remarkable event is destined to be one of life’s awe-inspiring moments not to be missed – and as such, has spurred a number of experienced tourism companies to form a commercial working team to best assist in maximizing its potential in the tropical north.

Spanning some six different organizations representing restauranteurs, tourism marketing professionals, Music festival specialists and coach, airline and reef tour operators, a commercial alliance has been formed to ensure the region is well placed to benefit from this natural occurring event while providing the necessary infrastructure for visitors to capture the eclipse in its magnificence and glory.

Spokesman for the group, Todd Parker of Parker Travel Collection said, “In December 2002, the Solar Eclipse at the small township of Ceduna in South Australia attracted over 40,000 people – which as a destination was considered the prime observation point.

“Given the 2012 eclipse will pass directly over areas within TNQ, we are confident of attracting the same number of observers – at the very least. With the possibility of coastal cloud cover affecting visibility, it has believed the best place to view the eclipse will be on the Tablelands and out on the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

Currently this initiative is handling enquiries from scientific astronomers and a number of festival organizers who are planning to stage some of the largest music events in the region coinciding with the eclipse.

Robin Macpherson who has been in Cairns for the past four years planning such events, said “In 2002 over 8000 people went to the Outback Eclipse music festival. In 2012 we would expect substantially more given the accessibility and natural beauty of the region. We look forward to working hand in hand with local operators to present a whole series of inclusive ticketing options.”

Mr Parker said the consortium’s sales and marketing focus will be on increasing the length of stay in the region from local, regional, state, national and international markets – to make the most of far reaching expenditure that will be created by this once in a lifetime event.

Team Eclipse 2012 is a consortium of the following professionals:

Festivals: Robin Macpherson, Serpent Trail & Eclipse Down Under
Air Charter and Touring: Ian Button, Air Australia Charters & Tours
Coach Charter & Touring: James Dixon, Downunder Tours
Reef Charter & Touring: Michael Healy, Quicksilver Group Catering
Catering: Craig Squire, Ochre Restaurant & Catering
Logistics: Andrew Dineen, Parker Travel Collection
Accommodation & Packaging Sales and Marketing: Todd Parker, Parker Travel Collection

Parker Travel Collection has launched a new campaign in Hong Kong designed to bring independent Chinese travelers to Queensland.

Managing Director Todd Parker said the campaign was based around China Airlines’ 50th anniversary, using China Airlines flights from Hong Kong to Sydney and Brisbane with special fares that can be used with Qantas internally.

“The China Airlines Vacation promotion is one of the first destination models targeting the Free Independent Traveler (FIT) market in southern China and Hong Kong,” he said.

“The campaign builds on the recent Tourism Australia promotions targeting this market in Hong Kong.

“Queensland has proven itself a popular destination for Chinese groups with the successful charters each Chinese New Year, but with this campaign we will see families, couples and single travelers experiencing the holiday of a lifetime in Queensland’s most popular destinations including Cairns, Port Douglas, the Gold Coast and Noosa.”

The China Airlines Vacations campaign which features accommodation and touring packages throughout Queensland will be distributed via the internet and retail agencies in Hong Kong and South China.

Parker Travel Collection will make sales calls in the market for the next seven months as the promotion runs through to 31 March, 2010.
Download China Airlines Vacations brochure.

Left to Right: Sharon Issack - AOT Account Manager Victoria, Emma O’Brien – AOT Account Manager Victoria, Todd Cornford – National Sales Manager, Parker Travel Collection and Jill Lance – AOT Account Manager Victoria.

Always at the forefront of developing innovative ways to market Queensland, Parker Travel Collection steps up to the plate once again with the launch of its biggest ever domestic retail campaign: 2009 QUEENSLAND HOT DEALS TO COOL PLACES.

Kicking off this month with the launch of its eighth season, Hot Deals to Cool Places is a campaign focused on selling Queensland holidays to Australians. Key to its success is capturing the attention of travel agents with a user-friendly brochure or guide to Queensland.

For the coming 2009-2010 travel season, Hot Deals to Cool Places campaign has been built around the launch of its 16 page, full colour brochure of special offers and value-added packages to key destinations within Queensland.

“This brochure is designed to be the travel agents’ quick-sell bible to Queensland. While compelling the agents’ call-to-action with hot deals and packages (strategically aimed at boosting visitation at various times throughout the year), we place high priority on its destination information and content.

“This season, like never before, the brochure is bursting at the seams with tips, tricks and general hints on how to get the most out of each region, city, town or village featured,” he said.

Mr Parker said Australia’s travel industry is now being flooded with 60 000 brochures via brochure distribution and personal mail systems – as well as sales calls on travel agencies throughout Melbourne, Sydney, Country NSW, Brisbane and south east Queensland.

“Our sales call mission has already begun and will continue over the coming months while garnering extra profile through industry advertising campaigns promoting HOT DEALS integrity as an effective sales tool for Queensland.

“This will be our biggest campaign ever with 5000 retails sales calls conducted over the next six months with more campaigns to come. Our message is simple, ‘c'mon Australia, come to Queensland - it really is beautiful one day and perfect the next!

“It’s imperative we remain aggressive in the selling Queensland as a holiday destination - targetting Australia as our most important market,” he said.

While continually striving to bring Queensland - via interesting and exclusive products and packages - to the market, Parker Travel Collection is proud to include several new experiences in this year’s campaign. As follows:

• Paradise Palms Resort and Country Club; opened in March, the resort is Australia's newest golf course accommodation.
• The Australian Mustering Experience; ‘live’ outback mustering experience operating three days and nights a week out of Port Douglas.
• New DFO shopping tours in Cairns; opening this month.
• Boutique, 84 room Portal Hotel in Brisbane city; opened in March and with the very chic O bar & restaurant.

Parker Travel Collection’s Hot Deals to Cool Places campaign secured its place in the Tropical North Queensland’s Tourism Award’s Hall of Fame in 2007 for Product Marketing

Todd Parker, Managing Director, Parker Travel Collection celebrates the launch of first ever dedicated QLD campaign in Guam with David Kendall, Director of Micronesia Sales and Marketing, Continental Airlines.

The team at Parker Travel Collection have notched up another first with the launch last week of Guam’s first ever dedicated Queensland campaign.

Entitled Queensland Hot Deals (GUAM), the campaign was created by Parker Travel Collection in conjunction with Continental Airlines to essentially support the carrier’s five flights weekly between Guam and Cairns.

Speaking about the campaign, Mr Parker said the campaign is designed to compel Micronesia’s visitor market with a series of pay/stay offers and packages that are commissionable to travel agencies.

“This campaign is innovative in several respects, not the least of which dictates a percentage of every sale goes back to Continental Airlines to assist with the development of tourism business into Guam.

“These flights are fundamental to the future sustainability of Tropical North Queensland’s tourism industry as they provide a convenient travel option for both Japanese and Micronesians visitors. And I believe this trend will continue with Guam’s US military that is destined to increase significantly with the planned relocation of Japan’s Okinawa US military base,” said Mr Parker.

Queensland Hot Deals with Continental Airlines is just one of many campaigns created by Parker Travel Collection to develop new markets and service them over the long term.