Disney is coming to Mackay. After captivating audiences around the world, Disney: The Exhibition – A Century of Magic will make its Australian debut at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (MECC) on December 4.
In this exclusive interview with Traveltalk, Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson reveals how the regional Queensland city secured one of the biggest cultural tourism wins in the country and what it means for the future of the region.
A leap of faith from the team at MECC
The opportunity began with a simple question from Mackay’s exhibition centre team, who are well connected internationally and noticed Disney’s exhibition had no booking beyond Madrid.
“Our team said, ‘well, if it’s going to come to the Southern Hemisphere, why not here?’,” Mr Williamson told Traveltalk.
That curiosity turned into a formal proposal to Mackay council, backed by a business plan showing the exhibition should cover its own costs and likely turn a profit.
Once council gave the green light, a small delegation travelled to Madrid to see the exhibition in person and assess whether it would resonate with a regional Australian audience.
“They came back all enthused and their enthusiasm was matched by the elected body of council, who backed the CEO and the officers and said, ‘let’s do it, let’s have a go’,” Mr Williamson said.
What followed was a lengthy and detailed legal negotiation, with Disney keen to ensure Mackay had the capability and sensitivity to do the exhibition justice.
“They wanted to know that we had the ability to host, we had the technical ability to actually put this on and we had the ability to make sure that the Disney brand was respected and driven to new heights in Australia. They were convinced we could do that after our presentation,” Mr Williamson added.
Pictured from left: Greg Williamson, Mayor of Mackay Regional Council, and Andrew Bobeldyk, Manager of Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre.
Why Disney chose Mackay over the capital cities
With major exhibition venues available in every Australian capital city, Mackay’s pitch came down to enthusiasm and hospitality.
“This exhibition could have gone to any one of the huge exhibition houses in any one of our capital cities. But really, to rivet the attention of all of the Disney followers in Australia and around the world, they can still come to Sydney, they can still come to Melbourne, but along the way they’re going to visit the Whitsundays and they’re going to visit Mackay,” Mr Williamson said.
“What made Mackay stand out was that we were enthusiastic and we said you need to come to our city because we will make you very welcome.”
“This is a world-class experience featuring expansive gallery builds and large-scale displays of more than 120 treasured objects brought together to tell a century of Disney history,” said Christoph Scholz, Director Exhibitions & International Projects at Semmel Exhibitions, when the news was first announced.
“Presenting an exhibition of this magnitude speaks to the capability of the MECC and the ambition of Mackay as a host destination and we’re thrilled to bring the full immersive experience to this audience.”
What it means for the region
Council modelling suggests the exhibition could generate $14.5 million in additional visitor spending and attract more than 38,000 additional domestic day visitors over its five month run. Mr Williamson believes those figures may even be surpassed.
“We believe, by having the Disney exhibition in a tropical and subtropical climate here in Mackay, adjacent to the Whitsundays in one of Australia’s most visited states, that those figures will be conservative. It gives the Australian travelling public another option and it gives the rest of the Southern Hemisphere a huge option too,” he said.
The Mayor also pointed to growing hesitancy around travel to the United States and Mackay’s relative proximity to Southeast Asia’s large population as factors working in the region’s favour.
“There’s a resistance to travel to America these days and who knows when that’s going to stop. We’ve got a huge population living to the north of us and you’ve just got to do the numbers in terms of the percentage of people who’ve grown up with Disney and follow Pixar now. We’re a lot closer to Southeast Asia than Melbourne, for instance, so why not Mackay?”
Beyond the immediate economic boost, Mr Williamson sees the exhibition as a long term opportunity to introduce visitors to a part of Australia many have never explored.
“The Disney experience is not a day experience. People are going to have to keep coming back for one, two, three, four days, visiting the city and doing everything around it. We hope they visit the Whitsundays and we hope they explore the hinterland to our west, which is an absolutely fantastic area.”
Advice for other regional councils
Asked what advice he would offer other regional areas hoping to secure similar world class events, Mr Williamson said councils needed to think beyond day to day service delivery.
“We see it as our responsibility as a local government to make sure that what we are building here is a place that people want to come and live in, want to visit and want to work in. That’s why we invest in events, because that brings people to our region as a visitor and then they see it and think, this wouldn’t be a bad place to live and raise my kids.”
A boost for domestic tourism
With international travel still uncertain for many Australians, the Mayor believes the timing could not be better for regional destinations like Mackay to capture a greater share of domestic spending.
“For families in Australia who want an alternative to getting on an airplane and going overseas in this very uncertain market, you can still get the Disney experience by travelling internally in Australia. When people make that choice, everybody benefits – the Australian economy benefits, the Queensland economy benefits and Australians who might not have been here before get to see a part of the country they might want to come and live in,” Mr Williamson said.
Three things every visitor should experience in Mackay
Beyond the exhibition itself, Mr Williamson said Mackay’s 32 beaches were a standout drawcard.
“You would be the only family on the beach most of the time. It’s blue water, sunshine and warm enough to swim in.”
He also pointed to the lush, 100-kilometre valley behind the city, which produces a third of Australia’s sugar and leads up to pristine rainforest home to platypus and other native wildlife.
For anglers, Mackay offers freshwater fishing in its lakes and dams, estuary fishing along its river systems and deep sea fishing on the Great Barrier Reef.
A turning point for the region
Looking ahead, Mr Williamson believes the Disney partnership will be remembered as a defining moment in Mackay’s tourism story.
“Twenty years from now, I know that people will be saying, ‘I came to Mackay to see Disney and brought the family back here and now I’ve got a very successful business, or I’m working in a very successful business, and the kids are loving going to school here because everything’s close by, the beach is there and the weather’s fantastic’.”
Asked what single message he hoped visitors would take away, Mr Williamson kept it simple.
“The message that I would like people to remember is that once they’ve been here, they’ll say, now I know why it’s in Mackay.”
Disney: The Exhibition – A Century of Magic runs from December 4 until May 4, 2027, with tickets available via the official website.
Story by Luana Buchele Furtado
