Internationally, the likes of Agnes, seen as one of the best restaurants in Australia, and The Calile, named one of the 50 best hotels in the world last year, are credited for doing part of the heavy lifting.

“Whenever I go around the world spruiking the growth of Brisbane and the brand of Brisbane, they’re now starting to understand,” Ryan said.

“The momentum that Brisbane’s experiencing at the moment is really exciting.”

Aviation investment and the return of direct routes to Brisbane was also reflected in the report’s findings.

The majority of international tourists visiting Brisbane last year were from New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The city also hosted a record number of visitors from Canada, India and Thailand.

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Ryan Both, executive general manager of aviation at Brisbane Airport, said New Zealand had always been an important market for Queensland and was a destination they wanted to make more cost-efficient and accessible – especially for weekenders and short breaks.

“We’re going to be back towards 100 per cent of New Zealand capacity towards the end of the year as well,” Both said.

With North America’s interest secured and East Asian destinations such as Japan on a steady trajectory, he said, the airport’s next point of focus was south-east Asia.

“We want to see flights back to Malaysia and Thailand, [and] more capacity to India, Singapore, these sorts of places,” Both said.

“They’re the markets that haven’t come back quite as quickly as we’d like.”