Ipswich City Council has launched its latest visitor guide featuring 130 local businesses and their remarkable 2025 offerings.
Council launched the new guide at the historic, restored Hotel Commonwealth, which also graces the 2025 guide’s cover, on Monday evening.
“We had a record-breaking year of visitors to our city in 2024,” Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said.
“We had two million visitors come to our region, which was a 34 per cent increase on the previous year.
“This guide highlights the best tourism and leisure experiences across our region and will continue to attract visitors to Ipswich.
“Whether it’s the great outdoors, flagship events, cultural activities, heritage sites, culinary adventures, or a night out with the family, Ipswich is the place to be.
“As seen in the guide – you can hop into a hot air balloon to marvel at our natural beauty, hike to the peak of one of our mountains, grab lunch at a heritage pub or go for a night out at the movies and the arcade – all in the same day, and that’s on top of the offering of cultural events we host year-round.”
Mayor Harding highlighted the significant progress that tourism has made in the city, returning to and exceeding pre-COVID levels.
“Last year, visitors injected $460 million into the Ipswich economy, which is an increase of over 50 per cent compared with pre-pandemic numbers,” Mayor Harding said.
“This 2025 guide will encourage visitors to keep coming back.
“In addition to the great adventures you can embark on in Ipswich, the guide also has a helpful tourism directory, major events calendar, maps and more to help you plan your visit.
“It is wonderful to have Hotel Commonwealth gracing the front cover of the guide. It first opened its doors in 1910 and has recently had a beautiful renovation. It’s a true Ipswich icon.”
Economic and Cultural Development Committee Chairperson Councillor Pye Augustine said council was also launching a new tourism initiative for local Ipswich residents.
“This year we are supporting the launch of the guide with a ‘Discover Your Own Backyard’ campaign, inspiring residents to get out and become tourists in their own town,” Cr Augustine said.
“I encourage all Ipswich residents to become ambassadors for local tourism by grabbing a copy of the new guide to start discovering these great experiences that they can share with friends and family who come to visit them.
“They would also be supporting the 130 local businesses who have been featured in the guide this year.
“Forty-thousand copies of the guide have been printed, which will be available at hotels and cafes throughout southeast Queensland, key hot spots around Ipswich and at visitor information centres throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales.”
Funding for the ‘Discover Your Own Backyard’ campaign was secured through the Locally Led Economic Recovery Program and was jointly funded through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
For more information and to view the guide online, please visit: https://www.discoveripswich.com.au/magazine/
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