It houses the early history of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the largest saleyards in north west Queensland and the Chinaman Creek Dam, and now tourism operators from around the state will be able to experience all those attractions and more in Cloncurry, when the town hosts the Outback Queensland Tourism Association’s annual awards ceremony in November.
The announcement was made on Friday, following an OQTA board member vote.
It’s the first time Cloncurry will have hosted the awards that will bring 250 extra people to town for the event, along with the OQTA annual general meeting and awards workshop, from November 2-5.
The days leading up the the announcement were not without controversy, when the McKinlay Shire Council shared its application video on social media.
OQTA chairman Stuart Mackenzie subsequently circulated a message stating that all entrants that the host town was selected impartially by the board, irrespective of any social media posts.
"The distribution of this video has in no way impacted the impartiality or integrity of the voting process for the title of host town,” he said. "It's unfortunate that details of a host town's application has been made public - these applications have always been confidential and are embargoed until a decision is made by the Outback Queensland Tourism Association board."
He said the error had been a case of simple miscommunication.
“McKinlay Shire Council believed March 22 was the release date for material, not realising voting doesn’t occur until the following week.
"We'll be addressing confidentiality of the application process at our next board meeting, clearing any ambiguity in the entry details and ascertaining ways to prevent similar events occurring in the future."
Mr Mackenzie stressed that any board member involved in a host town bid had to declare a conflict of interest and had no input to the process or is privy to the other applications.
According to the OQTA, a number towns applied for the coveted host town title, and were judged on accommodation access, capacity to host workshops, catering and transport availability criteria.
The board congratulated Cloncurry shire mayor, Greg Campbell, for the outstanding application for the region.
Applications are currently open for the Outback Queensland Tourism Award submissions, and close at 5pm on June 1.
For more information visit: www.outbackqueensland.com.au/2017-outback-queensland-tourism-awards/
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
