CROCODILE HUNTER EYES BIG GAME CITY

News Source: The Courier Mail, Friday 24th September, 2004

One of South East Queensland’s biggest drawcards for international tourists, Australia Zoo, was last night recognized as a high achiever in export, taking out the award for Tourism.

Australia Zoo, the Home of the Crocodile Hunter and popular focal point for the conservation work, education programs and film and television exploits of Steve and Terri Irwin is regularly promoted to nature lovers and thrill seekers in more than 140 different countries.

Over the past two years, international visitors to the Sunshine Coast attraction numbers increased by 90 per cent.

While visitors from the USA have always been drawn to Australia Zoo, growing interest is coming from other quarters such as Canada, UK and other parts of Europe as well as New Zealand and Asia.

The Zoo itself is a wildlife experience of a lifetime, staff interact with the wildlife at 13 live animal presentations daily while the Wandering Wildlife program provides the opportunity for visitors to have a hands on experience with up to 23 species.

The development of Australia Zoo’s Crocoseum, a state-of-the-art 5000 seat stadium, is a world first in crocodile education and presentations.

The business has gone from strength to strength since starting as family-run operation of four people in 1970. Today it boasts a multilingual staff of 404 employed in more than 34 departments.

Finalists in the Tourism category include Oceanis Australia and Fantasea Cruises. The Oceanis Group, last year’s Tourism Award winner, is the largest owner, builder and operator of aquariums in the Asia Pacific region – including Sunshine Coast’s Underwater World – and is rapidly expanding into Europe and the Middle East.

It has developed a strong international reputation for site selection, design, construction and pre / post opening of aquariums and current consulting projects include Copenhagen, Dubai, Istanbul, London, Paris and Seoul.

Fantasea Cruises, based at Airlie Bach, is the largest day cruise operator in the Whitsunday region, operating cruises and transfers throughout the magnificent Whitsunday Islands and to the Great Barrier Reef.

Fantasea Cruises also operates the Reefworld Adventure Platform at Hardy Reef, where visitors from around the world dive, snorkel or view the reef from the comfort of a semi-submersible.