Hotels in Townsville, Australia

A little about Townsville...

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast with the 2006 census recording the Townsville Statistical District (the urban centre) population to be 143,328 people. Townsville is seen as the unofficial capital of North Queensland as it hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state.

Townsville enjoys over 300 days of sunshine each year, which lends itself to tourism activities all year round and an abundance of outdoor activities. Popular attractions include 'The Strand', a long tropical beach and garden strip; Riverway, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Ross River; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park.

Education:
The largest of James Cook University's campuses is located in Douglas. The University is planning a billion dollar expansion, including extra student accommodation, a Student Village (i.e shopping mall, cafes, restaurants, etc.), and extra faculties. The Veterinary Sciences undergraduate facility is the newest in Australia, while the Physical and Sports Recreation Science faculty was recently opened to students. James Cook University also has a Medical School which is linked with the the tertiary level Townsville Hospital.

Vocational Education: The city is home to the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE - a Technical and Further Education College, a campus of the Australian Agricultural College Corporation and a new Australian Technical College – North Queenslandcampus which opened in 2007 in Douglas.

Events: Townsville is the venue for the Annual Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which runs over ten days each year in July. The festival has been running since 1991, and attracts many acclaimed international and Australian musicians. The city also has its own orchestra, the Barrier Reef Orchestra, which presents concerts throughout North Queensland.

The region has many renowned festivals, celebrating some of the various international cultures that call the region home. The Annual Greek and Italian Festivals (Italian based in Ingham, north of Townsville and Greek based at Thuringowa's Riverway) are popular with the locals and tourists alike

The annual Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island presents a quality musical experience. Another quality jazz experience is that of the Townsville Brass Showband which presents a quartlery concert series entitled "Brass on the Grass".

The city has a large and diverse range of restaurants representing many different cuisines of the world. The Palmer Street restaurant strip in South Townsville is home to many of these, and is the scene for an annual Jazz Festival, bringing together food, wine and music from all parts of the world.