Bowen Celebrates At Tourism AGM

About 60 people attended the Annual General Meeting of Bowen Tourism and Business at Flagstaff Hill last Thursday.

This was followed by a networking event to celebrate a great year for the organisation. The committee members will remain unchanged for the 2025/26 financial year with Jenn Honnery continuing in the position of Chair.

Jenn announced that the team had welcomed a record number of visitors in the past 12 months and won several awards.

“With a record 56,360 at the Visitor Information Centre and a further 3477 visitors welcomed at the Front Beach booth, our staff and volunteers welcomed a total of 59,837 in the past financial year,” she said.

“In a world with rapid changing technology, some visitor information centres are facing the challenge of declining numbers, but we are bucking that trend and recorded a 9% increase in visitors”

Jenn mentioned that Bowen had been named the Top Tourism Town in Quensland, and that the Big Mango had been named the 'Best Big Thing' in the State. She also congratulated the team on taking out the 'Visitor Information Centre of the Year' award at the Queensland Information Centre’s Associations annual conference.

Jenn thanked the staff and volunteers for their dedication, along with the members and Whitsunday Regional Council for their support.

She said the organisation looked forward to continuing to work with the community to promote Bowen and the region, including working closely with Tourism Whitsundays.

Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Ry Collins attended the networking event and congratulated the team on a successful year.

He said the success had continued since the financial year had ended with the team being named 'Community Champions' at the recent Whitsunday Business Awards.

He also spoke about the popularity of the coin featuring the Big Mango.

Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy spoke about the future, saying the team was currently working on a new website to be launched next year and a new edition of the very popular Bowen and Collinsville Visitor Guide.

Bowen Tourism and Business has more than 200 members including many from non-tourism sectors and operates the Bowen Visitor Information Centre next to the Big Mango and the information booth at Bowen’s Front Beach.

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