Whitsundays Tourism Soaring High

Ocean Rafting Scenic Flights. Photo supplied

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Tourism in the Whitsundays is riding high, with Bowen’s Visitor Information Centre welcoming a record number of visitors in a single day and international spending across the region reaching an all-time high.

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The latest figures released by Tourism Whitsundays show international visitor spending reached a record $273 million in the year ending June 2026, up 26.9 per cent on the previous year. Overseas travellers were also taking their time on their Whitsundays holidays, staying an average of 7.8 nights and spending $1,542 per person.

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“International expenditure is at an all time high and visitors from around the world are now staying longer in the region than ever before, indicating that global markets have real confidence in The Whitsundays and the experiences on offer here,” said Tourism Whitsundays CEO Tim Booth.  

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Aussies were also making their presence felt, with domestic travellers contributing $997 million in spending and 678,000 Australians staying overnight in the region.

For local businesses, the figures reflect a positive year, with the Sales and Marketing Captain for Ocean Rafting Nathan Fleming saying the team had noticed strong international presence, while also enjoying the Aussie faces that simply wanted to escape the cold.  

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“Especially with our scenic flights, it seems to be a bucket list for a lot of people, but also our boat portion as well,” he said.

“[Aussies] do like to get out of the old cold weather and explore the nicer, warmer climate, especially over that winter period over the last few months.”

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Bowen’s Visitor Information Centre also enjoyed a strong financial year, with the team beside the Big Mango welcoming more than 65,000 visitors through its doors, up 16 per cent on the previous year.

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That momentum continued into its busiest September yet, with 8,576 people stopping by during the month. This included a record day on 24th September, when the team greeted 552 visitors.

This broke the previous records from last September when the team saw 545 people, a result that Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business Leanne Abernethy was pleasantly surprised with.  

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“We didn’t think we would ever be able to top those numbers again, but we did,” she said.

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“We have certainly noticed an increase in the number of people making a daytrip to Bowen when staying in Airlie Beach for the holidays.

“They absolutely love our beaches, walks and lookouts and the fact you can snorkel directly off the beach.”

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Despite the strong results, concerns remain over changes to working holiday visas, with businesses such as Ocean Rafting hoping the proposal is rectified quickly in order to keep this success.  

“That's a demographic for us, not just coming to play in the Whitsundays, but also work in the Whitsundays as well,” he said.

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“So we do need to get that sorted to hopefully keep that youth and adventure market driving through for us because that's a very big key part of our market.”

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