Celebrity Chefs promoting Queensland’s fresh culinary produce to lure more tourists

Celebrity chef Matt Sinclair is the face of a new tourism campaign promoting Queensland’s world-class food and culinary offerings to the rest of the country.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the campaign, run by Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), would hit screens from today (Sunday 26th May) with a new television ad to air predominately in Sydney and Melbourne, although it will be shown in other cities as well.

“Queensland has the best fresh produce, seafood, fruit and vegetables in Australia and this campaign will showcase that amazing variety and quality to people right across the country,”

“Whether it be seafood from the Gold Coast or Hervey Bay, to the unique tropical fruits of Tropical North Queensland, to the prime beef of the Toowoomba region, the abundance of fine local produce is what sets Queensland apart from the other states.

“It’s time to once again remind people in the southern states just how great and varied the culinary offerings are up here,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said getting celebrity chef Matt Sinclair on board was a big plus.

“Very few people know our produce better than Matt Sinclair, which makes him the perfect choice to tell this story to the world.

“Matt’s restaurant – Sum Yung Guys at Sunshine Beach – has been a roaring success since it opened after his appearance on MasterChef and that success has been built on the back of always using the freshest Queensland produce to create stand-out dishes.

“The advertising blitz is part of a broader strategy to lure even more visitors to Queensland,” Ms Jones said.

“The culinary tourism push will be also be highlighted next week when Channel Ten’s top rating show, MasterChef, broadcasts a week of episodes filmed right here in Queensland, featuring the very best food our state has to offer.”.

Mr Sinclair said the wonderful opportunity to showcase Queensland food through the latest campaign was too good to pass up.

“If you ask me, Queensland has the freshest and best produce in Australia, and to be able to front a campaign encouraging people to come here and taste it for themselves is a real privilege,” he said.

“The number of people I speak to who have travelled to Queensland just for the food is astounding. Now we’re about telling even more people just how good it is and convincing them to visit.”

TEQ Chief Executive Officer Leanne Coddington said food now played a major role when it came to people choosing a holiday destination.

“It’s well established that food and beverage experiences are now among the top considerations when selecting a destination and Queensland is home to some of Australia’s very best culinary offerings,” she said.

“By showcasing that to the rest of the country, we’re aiming to reinvigorate the way travellers think about Queensland and drive even more of them to visit our state.”

The new campaign features food producers from Cairns, Palm Cove, Mossman, Port Douglas and Mareeba in Tropical North Queensland as well as Hervey Bay and the Whitsundays.

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