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December 9, 2025 — 5:00am
As home to legendary beaches, wild rainforest and one of the world’s most iconic natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland could be excused for thinking it had this whole tourism thing in the bag.
And statistics would support that case. Recent data from Tourism Research Australia shows that the number of overseas travellers to Queensland rose 2.7 per cent to 2.2 million in the last financial year, and the state outperformed the national average growth rate in international holiday-visitor expenditure by reaching a record $3.5 billion, up 32.1 per cent on the previous 12 months.
But there’s no resting on Queensland laurels.
In June this year the state government launched Destination 2045, a $1 billion plan to showcase Queensland globally, accelerate visitor numbers and double visitor expenditure within 20 years, with a strong emphasis on making Queensland a world leader in ecotourism. The strategy includes creating 45 new ecotourism experiences by 2045.
With New Zealanders leading the Sunshine State’s tourism charge, splashing a record $1.02 billion and making 490,000 trips there last financial year, it is fitting that one of the first new ecotourism attractions to receive Destination 2045 funding (a $1.6 million kick-start) is an adventure-based experience: Happitat.
Happitat Adventure Park at Binna Burra in the Scenic Rim is billed as “the world’s first cliff park”. Set to open on January 10, it offers vertiginous climbing and zip-lining activities with spectacular views over the World Heritage-listed Lamington National Park.
The attraction is the creation of Austrian-born former professional snowboarder Michael Neururer, who says, “in a single day, visitors can experience climbs and activities that would normally require travelling to different destinations”.
“We created the Happitat experience deep in nature because we know happiness starts with finding space to stop, simplify and appreciate our environment, and it’s when you surround yourself with nature that it fills your senses and creates stillness within,” he says. “Happitat invites people into the raw beauty of nature, where testing your limits helps you rediscover your connection to yourself and the environment.”
Described by the Queensland government as a one-of-a-kind example of the state’s ecotourism potential, the Happitat experience begins with the Arete Via Ferrata climb. It involves thrill-seekers stepping off a cliff’s edge for a heart-rate-raising ascent across an 80-metre bridge, before moving through tightropes and timber crossings suspended high above a valley. From there they launch into Total Exposure, the park’s longest and highest zip line, gliding 200 metres above Lamington National Park.
Next comes The Overhang, a zip line course that takes participants past waterfalls and cliff faces before concluding with The Edge Park Explorer, a wind-down of sorts, though it still involves taking in views from a 12-metre cantilevered platform suspended 400 metres above the valley floor.
Tickets to Happitat are on sale from $497 a person for a full-day experience that includes expert guidance.
“Rigorous safety standards” are a priority, as is environmental stewardship. More than $1 million has been invested in stabilising bushfire-affected cliffs, planting native species, and implementing a zero-waste operational system.
Stage two will include a cafe and is due to open in mid-to-late 2026.
See happitat.com.au
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