The program aims to remind Australia and the world of Queensland’s offerings, and also introduce them to new or hidden gems.

At the Outback Tourism Symposium in Cloncurry on Friday, Destination Director for Outback and Country Queensland, Matt Bron, said the program was based on a study by a large research company.

“Through consumer driven research, people were telling us Queensland was a pair of comfy slippers.”

“That was their terminology. Everyone knows what’s in Queensland, everyone’s sort of been there and done it once, and there’s nothing that amazing about it anymore,” Mr Bron said.

“We realised that there is a lot more to Queensland than probably what a lot of the world and Australia has seen.”

Mr Bron said Queensland has been maintaining its share of tourism profit, while other states were growing.

He said holding the conference in conjunction with the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards meant more people would be able to attend.

“This is the full Outback one, and there have been 13 others. When we do workshops in the Outback, it's really hard to get numbers to come, because of the distances and the costs,” Mr Bron said. 

“So we’re trying to do a lot more online work, but at the end of each year we always do a bulk conference on what’s happening, lined up with the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards, wherever that is.”

Mr Bron said the symposium had visitors from all over the Outback, including Barcaldine, Charleville, Roma, and the Gulf. A further plane load of attendees arrived later on Friday afternoon.

Best of Queensland was announced in September by Tourism and Major Events Minister, Kate Jones.

“When we play to our strengths, everyone wins,” Ms Jones said.

Ms Jones said the program would help boost tourism in Queensland by identifying products that consistently deliver a high quality visitor experience.