
Tourism in Bowen was in the spotlight at the Bowen Uniting Church Friendship Club meeting last week.
Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy was the guest speaker, invited to explain the role of the Local Tourism Organisation.
Leanne was invited by Anne Steen, who helps with the club’s activities and is also a volunteer at the visitor information booth at Bowen’s Front Beach.
Leanne highlighted the record number of visitors at the Bowen Visitor Information Centre and gave members an update of other highlights of the year.
“We welcomed more than 56,000 visitors in the past financial years and have already welcomed more than 24,000 since July 1 this year,” she said.
“In the past three months, we have averaged almost 270 visitors every day.”
Of those visitors, about 56% were from Queensland, about 30 per cent were from other parts of Queensland and 14 per cent were from overseas.
The Big Mango was named the “Best Big Thing” in Queensland in May and was named the Top Tourism Town in Queensland for 2025.
Leanne said these awards attracted media coverage for Bowen which had contributed to the extra visitors.
She also mentioned the popularity of the collector’s coin featuring the Big Mango.
“We sold the first 500 coins in 43 minutes and a lot of those people who turned up early on the day were local residents,” she said.
“It was great to see so many local faces that day.”
The Uniting Church Friendship Club meets monthly in Bowen. After the meeting, Leanne said she enjoyed sharing the good news with members of the community.
Manager of Bowen Tourism Business, Leanne Abernethy with Anne Steen of the Bowen Uniting Church Friendship Club. Photo supplied