Promote Queensland’s multi-day Great Walks

Hiker walking along Lake McKenzie on the K’gari (Fraser Island) Great Walk

Action 3.10, Action Plan for Walking 2019–2021
Status: Complete

Promote Queensland’s multi-day Great Walks in collaboration with the National Trust of Australia (Queensland).

Key achievements

The Department of Environment and Science (DES) in collaboration with the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) has been actively promoting Queensland’s multi-day Great Walks.

The Great Walks of Queensland are a world-class system of walking tracks through Queensland’s protected areas including magnificent World Heritage sites.

Queensland’s Great Walks offer a range of experiences, from short, easy strolls to half and full-day walks and extended overnight adventures, giving people of differing ages and abilities the opportunity to explore, experience and enjoy the magnificence of our parks and forests.

The following ten Great Walks offer amazing experiences just waiting to be enjoyed. When planning any day or multiday walk, always check park alerts before visiting https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/

• Carnarvon
• Conondale Range
• Cooloola
• K’Gari(Fraser Island)
• Gold Coast Hinterland
• Mackay Highlands
• Sunshine Coast Hinterland
• Wet Tropics
• Conway circuit
• Whitsunday Ngaro Sea Trail

A hugely successful social media campaign promoting the Queensland Q10 Challenge (10 Great Walks in 10 days) was conducted between 19 July – 2 Aug 2019. It featured two hikers as they trekked through sections of 10 Great Walks from Currumbin to Cooktown.

In addition to this, the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) is featuring a short 15 minute documentary on the Q10 Challenge through its domestic and international markets in the second half of 2020. This is also being promoted through DES’s digital and social media channels.

The Queensland National Parks social media campaign to date has had an audience reach of 368,000 with audience engagement of 45,000. There were 36,000 video views of the Great Walks and 366 clicks to the Great Walks page on the DES website. The campaign attracted 2,500 new followers to these social media channels.

The Queensland National Trust also conducted a social media campaign with an audience reach of 12,506 and audience engagement of 674. There were 1,196 video views and seven  website click-throughs from their actions.

Next steps

Ongoing promotion of the Great Walks ceased between September 2019 and May 2020 due to Queensland’s most severe bushfire season, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Queensland National Parks will reopen for camping from 12 June 2020, allowing the multi-day Great Walks to re-open fully.

New video content (2-3 minutes duration each) featuring Queensland’s Great Walks will be added to the DES website and used in social media promotions in the second half of 2020. In addition, shorter videos (30 secs) have been produced to promote day walks from June 2020.

Lead agency

Department of Environment and Science in collaboration with National Trust Australia (Queensland)

More information

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/experiences/great-walks/