18 January 2016

The University of Queensland’s Confucius Institute and the Queensland Police ServiceFar North District, have joined forces to develop a safety brochure for tourists travelling to North Queensland.

The brochure, which is being launched in Cairns today, is printed in English and Chinese and highlights the need for water safety, accommodation security and personal safety.

Each year more than 190,000 tourists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan visit Cairns and the surrounding area.

UQ 
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Executive Dean Professor Tim Dunne said the need for a public safety campaign was recognised after a number of tourist deaths in the past year.

 “The Queensland Police Service and the Confucius Institute have worked to develop a proactive campaign which aims to highlight safety issues and build awareness,” Professor Dunne said.

 “There has been strong support for the campaign from the Senior Executive at UQ, the Mayor’s office in Cairns and the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China.”

UQ Provost and Senior Vice-President 
Professor Max Lu grew up in Shandong Province in eastern China, and has written a message for the brochure, as has the Queensland Police Northern Region Assistant Commissioner, Paul Taylor.

As part of the campaign, 50,000 brochures have been printed and a large number of tourist operators have already received training on promoting water safety to international visitors.

“This campaign is timely as it is just two weeks out from Chinese New Year, when there will be an influx of Chinese tourists in north Queensland,” Professor Dunne said.

Media: UQ HASS Communications, Gillian Ievers, 
g.ievers@uq.edu.au, 07 3346 1633, 0406 510 668; QPS Cairns District, Senior Constable Russell Parker, 07 4030 7069.