Queensland is its own incentive

Three-year-old Dobby cuddles her "mommy", Tiffany, at a conservation park in Cairns. Guo Shuhan / China Daily

Tourism Queensland (TQ), the tourism bureau of Queensland, Australia, is clever at creating surprises.

While Ben Southall was reluctant to leave his "Best Job in the World" and join the bureau as a tourism ambassador, TQ is already passing on the baton.

Hundreds of employees at ADR Group, an Indonesian automotive components manufacturer, will soon have the chance to visit Queensland, after the company won $1.04 million of Queensland travel incentives.

During an eight-day final contest for the award in late August, representatives of ADR Group and another 19 companies from around the world, participated in some of Queensland's best incentive experiences. They included traveling by helicopter and motorcycle; meeting dolphins, koalas and kangaroos; taking part in a mini surf carnival on the Gold Coast; dining in the heart of Daintree rainforest; whitewater rafting on the Barron River; and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

Beijing Huayuan International Travel and four Taiwan companies - ASUS Design Centre, XinMedia, Yahoo! Taiwan and Procter & Gamble - also stood out among 291 entries to become finalists.

Launched in March, the tourism promotion campaign is the beginning of a five-year global strategy, which aims to put Queensland on the map as one of the world's top incentive destinations.

The Chinese market now ranks third among Queensland's inbound travelers, contributing $394.5 million to the state's tourism industry, TQ's CEO Anthony Hayes says.

Many high-end local agencies are working with TQ to improve their understanding of Chinese tourists, Hayes adds.

TQ has cooperated with China Southern Airlines to increase the number of direct air routes from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to Brisbane, capital city of the state, to four times a week since Oct 30 and also extend airline services from Guangzhou to Beijing.