The Queensland Government Is Giving Residents $200 Vouchers to Use on Tropical North Getaways
15,000 vouchers will be up for grabs from tomorrow, to use on tourism experiences and attractions in Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
Queenslanders, it's holiday time. After a year largely spent staring at your own four walls, you probably don't need much motivation to head out of town, but the State Government is giving you some anyway. In an effort to encourage everyone to take a getaway up north within the state, it's handing out $200 vouchers for travel to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
The idea has two obvious aims: enticing Queensland residents to go venturing throughout the state, and helping support tourism businesses in the highlighted area. The move was announced today, Sunday, March 7, 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 Monday, March 8–Thursday, March 11, 15,000 vouchers will be available — and you'll need to head to queensland.com to nab one. You'll register for a voucher code, as part of a scheme that's been dubbed 'Cairns Holiday Dollars'. Obviously, it's likely that there'll be more people keen on scoring the $200 discount than there will be vouchers, so they'll be handed out as part of a draw.
Those who successfully receive a voucher will then be able to use it between March 15–June 25 on tourism experiences in the tropical north area, which also includes Port Douglas and the Atherton Tablelands. The vouchers can only be spent on tourism experiences and attractions, and will enable you to get up to 50 percent off your booking, maxing out at $200.
While Victoria's similar scheme, which was announced in 2020, also covered accommodation, that isn't the case in Queensland. It's clearly hoped that most folks taking up the vouchers will need to pay for somewhere to stay anyway — and to eat and drink at cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars while they're there — which'll also inject more money into the region.
If the vouchers are successful, Premier Palaszczuk said that they could be rolled out across the rest of the state. For now, though, the Premier advised that the government wants "to make sure that people across Queensland get to enjoy tropical far north Queensland".
You can apply for one of the 15,000 $200 'Cairns Holiday Dollars' travel vouchers from Monday, March 8 at queensland.com.
