Bligh urges Obamas to visit Qld

Queensland tourism chiefs are already salivating at the thought of US President
Barack Obama and his family sunning themselves in the sunshine state.
They remember what happened after the last presidential visit to the Sunshine State
in 1996.
Images of then president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary heading out from Port
Douglas to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef flooded news bulletins and newspapers
in the United States.
Soon afterwards, tourism officials were gleefully graphing a 55 per cent jump in the
number of Americans heading to north Queensland on holiday.
You can't buy that kind of publicity and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh knows it.
She's written to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urging him to send the Obamas north to
his home state, after the president has completed his official duties during his
planned visit in March.
And north Queensland's tourism leaders have been quick to talk up how much the
region has to offer, both in terms of a holiday and a political backdrop.
With memories of the Clinton presidential visit still fresh in Port Douglas, north
of Cairns, the local tourism board has gone into overdrive trying to secure a
repeat.
They've lobbied the White House, the US ambassador, the Australian government and
the Queensland government, and set up advocacy groups on Facebook and Twitter.
Tourism Port Douglas Daintree executive Doug Ryan says the group has been promoting
the sleepy seaside town's relative isolation and natural beauty.
"We suggested it might be a good place for him and (his wife) Michelle to relax for
a bit."
But if sitting on a beach sipping cocktails from a coconut isn't the image the
president's hoping to project, Mr Ryan says Port Douglas - on the doorstep of the
Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest - is an ideal place for him to talk
about climate change and other environmental issues.
"Those two things tied in with global warming, it would be a great place for him to
make an environmental comment and to experience firsthand what's going on up here,"
he says.
Security is another of the town's selling points - it's long been popular with the
rich and famous and the town's small size helped simplify security arrangements for
the Clinton visit.
"It's a small town, we don't have large crowds so things like controlling security
are much easier here," Mr Ryan says.
President Clinton clearly thought so. After leaving the White House, he returned for
a holiday in 2001 and was there when he learned of the September 11 attacks.
Ms Bligh admits it's a "long shot", but says she's pulled out all the stops to get
the Obamas to come to Queensland, including extending an invitation during her
recent trade mission to the US.
"The president is a busy man but tourism has taken a real beating in Queensland
during the global financial crisis and I will be doing everything I can to encourage
him to come here."
She says any visit by the president would be a boon for the industry, noting: "A
visit from President Obama would get huge coverage back in the States."
Even more so if the president does as the White House has said and brings his
glamorous wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha.