Chinese Mission

Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Jennifer Whitney and acting chief executive officer Barry Omundson will fly to China in October to represent the Whitsundays at the annual International Island Tourism Conference.

The conference will be held in Zhoushan city, in the south-east Zhejiang province, from October 12-14 and will give Cr Whitney and Mr Omundson the opportunity to show off the Whitsunday region on the world.

A motion to send the duo to China was passed unanimously at last week’s ordinary council meeting.

The executive committee of the conference will foot the bill for the Whitsunday delegation’s Chinese domestic flights, accommodation and dining.

Cr Whitney said the council had received an invitation to the conference from a number of delegations that council had entertained within the Whitsunday region.

“We will be presenting on the Whitsundays and what it has to offer and obviously getting information from them as to what they’re looking at having within our region,” she said. “What they like to do when they do travel and what activities they’re looking at – just to really see what their idea of an island experience is compared to what we have here.”

The event will also unveil a list of the world’s best island tourist destinations for 2015 and Cr Whitney said it would be lovely to see the Whitsundays included.

The deputy mayor of the Zhoushan Government has also proposed a sister-city relationship with our region and hopes an agreement can be signed during the conference.