Chambers unite to boost business and tourism

Chambers of commerce across the Moreton Bay Region are joining a push for Queenslanders to discover their state and the businesses that call it home.

The campaign’s called Local As Queensland and it’s the brainchild of Brisbane Junior Chamber of Commerce president Nathan Schokker who wanted to find a way to leverage the Chamber of Commerce Collective Queensland’s networks to boost tourism and small business.

It’s been embraced by almost 40 chambers of commerce across the state including the Redcliffe Peninsula, Samford, Bribie Island and The Hills chambers of commerce in the Moreton Bay Region.

Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce president Brad Flynn says this campaign complements the work organisations like Moreton Bay Region Industry and Tourism are doing to promote the region and the small businesses that call it home.

“This dove-tails into that to target business owners to get people to visit the areas and be aware of the businesses in those areas and what they have to offer,” Brad explains.

How it will work

The driver is the Local As Queensland website, which local chambers of commerce will promote using social media to showcase the state and their regions. The idea is to spread the message to their networks and beyond.

“We’ll work with the other chambers to get this to go viral,” Brad says.

The website features a map of Queensland, directory of chambers of commerce and links to each area represented.

The links take readers to a page describing the districts which includes a link to that particular chamber of commerce’s website or Facebook page, where they can further showcase their region and the businesses they represent.

Plans for more campaigns in the future?

“At this point this is the first thing, but we have talked about collaborating again in the future,” Brad says.

“Part of this has been how all the networks can work together to create a stronger narrative around buying local and supporting the community. We’re doing everything we can to help business. We need to maintain a positive outlook.”

Brad sees the pandemic shutdown like a slingshot – everyone has been isolated and under pressure for so long, that during the recovery the collective pressure will fire the marble up to great heights. And he reckons it’s something we’ll do together.

Want to know how you can support local businesses and the community? Head to our blog.

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