The assignment: sell Easter holidays in Queensland.
QTIC boss Daniel Gschwind turns to Facebook and Twitter to save Queensland's tourism industry from an onslaught of bad international publicity.
Daniel Gschwind's (@ThatTourismGuy) people have rung around 600 Queensland tourism businesses which all report a downturn of between 20 and 100 percent.
So the QTIC have created a "proof of life" campaign on Facebook with a page called Take a Queensland Holiday
The sun is shining in Brisbane's Scenic Rim, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays, the Gold Coast, Mackay, the Great Barrier Reef and other destinations but rooms, cottages, swimming pools, boats, planes and bars are empty.
Small businesses which survived a lean Christmas off their savings from fat years now battle against all the international publicity of the Queensland floods.
(Picture: Today's weather)
"The impression that all this publicity gives is that 75 percent of Queensland is flooded so what are overseas visitors to make of this?" Mr Gschwind said.
"It's very consistent response around the state. Very few operators have taken any damage, there are some, but all of them report cancellations and a lack of business."
Scenic Rim tourism operator, the owner of Lilydale Host Farm Pam Hardgrave, rang around her region and found businesses which normally take thousands of dollars a month took only $100 to $200 over Christmas.
Bookings are being cancelled even as the Sunshine State turns on the sun in places unaffected by the floods, says Mrs Hardgrave, who has donated to the flood appeal and is offering SES workers free stays.
"All tourism operators have not been making any money for the past six to 12 months because people haven't had money to spend.
"We normally have an 80 percent occupancy rate but it's between 20-30 percent occupancy over Christmas.
"We have contacted guests who have visited us 20 or 30 times and they've been hit by the floods now."
Queensland flood waters never touched Brisbane's scenic rim, The Whitsundays, Fraser Island, the Gold Coast and many other holiday destinations but tourism operators are struggling to keep their heads above water.
Mr Gschwind, a member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, opened a Twitter account today (Monday, Jan 17) to get the word out to the world: don't cancel your Easter holidays, come to Queensland.
"We don't want to see a second wave of cancelations go over the industry," Mr Gschwind said.
He's encouraging all tourism operators to post "proof of life" photos on the Take a Queensland Holiday Facebook page.
