Catch up on all the latest news from your favourite tourism boards and find out what new experiences are on offer with Travel Weekly‘s brand new destination wrap!

Australians Dominate World’s Most Challenging Paddle Race

The 23^rd annual Moloka‘i 2 O‘ahu Paddleboard Race took place on 28 July 2019 HST, with contenders from across the globe taking on the 52km challenge.

Described as the world’s most challenging paddle race, the Moloka‘i 2 O‘ahu starts from the water at Kalua Koi on Molokai to the beach at the Maunalua Bay Beach Park bathhouse on O‘ahu.

The 2019 results have seen Australians dominate the leader board, with every participant in the Top 10 from the land down under.

From 1997 to now, Australian men have dominated the Men’s Prone Paddleboard Championships, winning 18 out of 21 years. Similarly, Australian women have conquered the Women’s Prone Unlimited Paddleboard, with 7 of the 11 top times since 2004.

Australians have won the Moloka‘i 2 O‘ahu paddleboard race every year since 2010, making this year’s contest more challenging as athletes test their skills to keep the renowned title.

Utah named official tourism partner of City2Surf Sydney 2019

The Utah Office of Tourism has announced its official partnership as the exclusive tourism partner of City2Surf Sydney 2019. City2Surf is the largest fun run in the world and will occur on 11 August 2019 beginning in the Sydney CBD and finishing at the world-famous Bondi Beach.

This is where more than 80,000 runners and walkers will be able to win their way to Utah courtesy of a 12-night prize package and return economy class airfares courtesy of United Airlines. (Terms and conditions apply.)

New Brisbane tourism experiences set to flourish with Lord Mayor’s grants

A tour exploring Brisbane’s food history from its Indigenous cultural beginnings to its present-day cuisine and a guided river journey showcasing Brisbane’s fascinating maritime history are among new tourism experiences set to receive funding from a new grant scheme.

Funds from the Lord Mayor’s Experience Development Incentive Grant Program have been awarded to five city and regional tourism operators who will take the lead on developing exciting new tourism experiences for the region.

Five grants of $10,000 each from Lord Mayor’s Experience Development Incentive Grant Program have been allocated to five projects including Nyanda cultural and food tours, maritime heritage experiences, new self-guided tours at the Brisbane Powerhouse, farm gate, food and scenic tours and pterodactyl helicopter tours.

The new tourism offerings are expected to be developed by March 2020.

The New York Botanical Garden announces 2020 exhibition of work by Yayoi Kusama

The New York Botanical Garden today announced that its major 2020 exhibition will feature the work of internationally celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

This landmark presentation – exclusive to NYBG and with initial support from Major Sponsor MetLife Foundation – will include works across the spectrum of her multifaceted practice and introduce major new works created by the artist specifically for this exhibition, which will run from May 2 through November 1, 2020.

It offers visitors to New York a unique opportunity to view a range of Kusama’s mesmerising art, including immersive experiences and new works created for NYBG, which lies just 20 minutes from midtown Manhattan and is the only venue in the world for this singular Garden-wide exhibition.

Monaco becomes first state in Europe to be fully covered by 5G

Thanks to Monaco Telecom, the Principality of Monaco is now completely connected to 5G, making it the first in the world to achieve total coverage with the high-speed technology.

The 5G roll-out is the first pillar of the Extended Monaco programme led by the Prince’s Government, which seeks to bring Monaco into the digital age.

New in tropical North Queensland

Music, racing, award-winning beer, dining in the rainforest and new wildlife attractions give tropical North Queensland a variety of fresh experiences for the cooler months in the tropics.

Live music at Paronella Park

Historic Paronella Park is once again alive with music from The String Family as part of the evening tours until 31 October. The award-winning musicians play original compositions inspired by the magic and beauty of the Cassowary Coast rainforest filling the National Trust property with live music, just like the evenings hosted by Jose Paronella many decades ago.

Be charmed by snakes

Seeing snakes in their natural habitat just got easier with the opening of Pathway of Pythons at Wildlife Habitat Port Douglas. The new snake precinct has jungle, olive, amethystine, water and black-headed pythons with each housed in a room designed to look, feel and smell like the place they call home.

Deadly dining on country

Join the Mandingalbay Yidinji people on their country for a four-course Deadly Dinner featuring traditionally inspired local produce and Australian native ingredients.

Drivers rally to Targa

Entries have surged by 40 per cent in Targa Great Barrier Reef with more than 270 vehicles to drive Tropical North Queensland’s roads from 30 August to 1 September. Non-competitive touring groups follow the drivers serious about winning Targa and put on a $25 million display of exotic sports cars and classic vehicles.

Be a cowboy

Discover your inner cowboy on both horseback and an all-terrain vehicle at KUR-Cow Barnwell, a working cattle property in Kuranda. Get a ringside seat to watch a show of bushman’s skills and meet the friendly working dog who can run all day.

Koala joey on show

Monte Carlo, the sweetest koala joey at Rainforestation Nature Park, has emerged from mum Vovo’s pouch at the age of eight months and is putting on a show for visitors by crawling all over his four-year-old mother. Dad Sunny was on loan from Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary as part of the captive breeding program. The Kuranda nature park has also welcomed two rescue koalas from the wild.

The race that stops Cairns

The Cairns Amateurs Carnival has secured two of Australia’s most awarded Fashions on the Field competitors, Lindsay Ridings and Emma Scodellaro, to judge this year’s titles. The Carnival on 12 to 14 September is three days of fun, fashion, food and entertainment built around two days of horse racing.

Dine in the treetops

Silky Oaks Lodge is throwing open its doors for lunch in the open-air Treehouse Restaurant set in the Daintree rainforest treetops overlooking the stunning Mossman River. Newly appointed Executive Chef Mark Godbeer has arrived from Longitude 131 at Uluru Kata Tjuta, which is also part of the Baillie Lodges portfolio.

Fly to the Reef

Scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef can be enjoyed on Nautilus Aviation’s new factory-built Airbus H130s helicopters which seat seven passengers. The luxury transfers and scenic flights are from Port Douglas to the Quicksilver pontoon at Agincourt Reef, from Cairns to Green Island, and from Cairns to the Great Adventures pontoons at Moore and Norman Reefs.

New exhibit in Kuranda

What does a caterpillar eat before it turns into a beautiful butterfly? The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda has introduced an exhibit that answers this question. The Food Plant Walk is a 20-minute guided educational walk highlighting various caterpillar food plants and includes a sneak peek at the sanctuary’s aviary used for disease control and egg collection.