CARAVANNING Queensland, which represents around 700 businesses throughout the state including 350 caravan and tourist parks, has organised an ambitious $400,000 campaign to lure grey nomads and other caravanners back to the cyclone and flood-ravaged state.

Mother Nature left a multi-billion dollar trail of destruction which had caravan parks and tourist attractions on their knees as tourism flagged in the Sunshine State.

But in a bid to quell the misperception that Queensland is still unfit for holidaying, former Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor officially launched the campaign to attract road travellers back across the border.

Speaking at the Brisbane Holiday Village in Eight Mile Plains, he said the idea was to dispel the notion that Queensland was "closed for business".

"Reports we're getting is there are massive numbers of people cancelling bookings. People who have stayed in Queensland and Northern Territory over Christmas holidays haven't rebooked for next year," he explained.

Caravanning Queensland chief executive officer Ron Chapman said the initiative would complement other promotional programs being implemented by Tourism Queensland.

"In addition, the project will assist hundreds of other tourism attractions, trips and tours statewide, that derive a huge part of their income from the road travelling tourist," he said.

"Road travellers are the lifeblood of tourism in many areas and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars to our economy. Caravanning and camping is estimated to be worth $5 billion to the national economy ... and a large proportion of this is spent here in Queensland."

Mr Chapman hoped the Caravanning Queensland initiative would spur an industry-wide focus on the recovery effort.

"This is an Australian first that will hopefully set the pace for tourism sectors to be proactive in the recovery program,” he said.

Caravan Parks Association of Queensland president Majella Kahler pointed out that the industry employed thousands of people across the state.

"We need to keep them all employed and we need to play a part in keeping tourism employment on a roll in associated businesses," she said.

"There is no question that a perception exists in the minds of many out in the marketplace that they can't or won't come to Queensland in the near future.

"Caravanning and camping is the number one choice of holidaying Australians, and road-based tourism is nearly two-thirds of the domestic market.

"So one would have to wonder why some in responsible positions do not seem to understand this when it comes to promotion. We do understand it ... and we're doing something about it."

Proving the Queensland tourism industry can bounce back, Dalby Tourist Park owners Dick Martin and Lesley Bulmer were at the launch to share their tale of resilience – they have re-opened their park six times after recovering from separate flooding events.