Queensland Is Giving Out 36,000 Vouchers for Greater Brisbane and Whitsundays Holidays

Queenslanders, it's vacation time again. For Brisbanites, it's staycation time, too. Back in March, the State Government gave residents an excuse to enjoy a getaway via its Holiday Dollars scheme. Now, it's bringing the initiative back for another round, with both $100 and $200 vouchers up for grabs across two regions.

Last time, the vouchers were available for travel to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. This time, you have two options: hang around Greater Brisbane or once again head north. Under the Brisbane Holiday Dollars offering, 30,000 $100 vouchers will be available tourism experiences and accommodation in the Greater Brisbane region (which includes Brisbane, Scenic Rim, Moreton Bay, Redlands Coast, Somerset, Logan and Ipswich). As part of the Whitsunday Holiday Dollars package, 6000 vouchers are available — but only for folks who are already staying in the region during a set period.

The idea has two obvious aims: enticing Queensland residents to go venturing both locally and further afield throughout the state, and helping support tourism businesses in the highlighted areas. The move was announced today, Thursday, April 22, by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, including the details of what you can spend the money on, when you can spend it and exactly how you can get your hands on the vouchers.

From Tuesday, April 27–Friday, April 30, the draw for the Brisbane vouchers will be open to Queensland residents over the age of 18 — and you'll need to head to queensland.com to nab one. You'll register for a voucher code and, if you're successful, you'll be notified from Thursday, May 6. As happened last time, there's likely to be more interested folks than there are available vouchers, so they'll be handed out at random.

Those who successfully receive a voucher for Brisbane will then be able to use it to book between Thursday, May 6–Friday, June 4, for use up until Sunday, August 15. The vouchers can only be spent on tourism experiences and accommodation, and they'll enable you to get up to 50 percent off your booking, maxing out at $100.

The Whitsundays vouchers, which will be on offer in conjunction with Tourism Whitsundays, will work quite differently. Value-wise, they'll cover 50 percent off your booking for tours and attractions up to $200, but Queensland residents over the age of 18 will need to already be in the region between Tuesday, May 4–Wednesday, June 30 to get their hands on one.

Once you're up north, you'll claim your voucher through participating hotels, Visitor Information Centres and the campaign website. They're activated once you make a booking, and will operate on a first in, best dressed basis — and will be available until the quota of vouchers is exhausted.

When the Cairns scheme was announced back in March, Premier Palaszczuk said that it could be rolled out across the rest of the state if the vouchers are successful. That's what's happening now, but there's no word as yet whether other parts of Queensland might be covered in the future.

You can apply for one of the 30,000 $100 Brisbane Holiday Dollars travel vouchers between Tuesday, April 27–Friday, April 30 at queensland.com. The Whitsunday Holiday Dollars vouchers will be available to folks in the region between Tuesday, May 4–Wednesday, June 30, with further details available via Tourism Whitsundays.

Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland.