MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Turu (turu.com.au) – the new search engine for holiday & caravan parks – announced Queensland's Sunshine Coast as the most searched destination in Australia, following the website's first few months online.

Since Turu's launch on July 17, Queensland destinations have made up 25% of all searches on the website. The Sunshine Coast was the most clicked-on region within Queensland, owning 20% of all searches within the state.

Over 100,000 users visited Turu during its first 30 days. Of those visitors, 22% were from the state of Queensland. Turu.com.au general manager, Robert Gallagher, said these statistics provide evidence of the value of Turu within the tourism sector, as well as the wider travel community.

"The Queensland numbers over the past 30 days demonstrate the value of Turu for holiday parks, and the ability to showcase their properties to a national audience who will travel to different locations throughout the year," said Mr Gallagher.

"It is no surprise, with the warmer weather up north, that although 30% of our audience was from Victoria, only 13% of search listings for the month were for Victorian areas."

There are currently 75 holiday park listings under the Sunshine Coast region on Turu (http://turu.com.au/search/holiday-parks/qld/sunshine-coast.aspx). Of these, the following 10 parks were the most clicked-on for the period:

• BIG4 Cania Gorge Holiday Park, BIG4, Monto, Qld
• Fraser Lodge Holiday Park, BIG4, Torquay, Qld
• Maaroom Caravan Park, Maaroom, Qld
• Australiana Village Caravan Park, Top Tourist Parks, Hervey Bay, Qld
• Woodgate Beach Tourist Park, Woodgate, Qld
• Alex Beach Top Tourist Park, Top Tourist Parks, Alexandra Headland, Qld
• Piabla Beachfront Tourist Parks, Hervey Bay, Qld
• Windmill Caravan Park, Urangan, Qld
• Burrum River Caravan Park, Howard, Qld
• Captain Cook Holiday Village, Top Tourist Parks, Seventeen Seventy, Qld

On Turu, users can search for holiday parks using either the open-end search bar, or a map of Australia. Selecting the map presents users with a visual interface which displays specific regions within each selected state or territory.

Turu.com.au was officially launched by Nine Entertainment Co. in July, with more than 2,000 holiday park listings across Australia. Travel behaviour statistics represent one of many valuable aspects of the Turu community, in addition to providing travellers with a simple, easy solution to finding the right holiday park.

Media Inquiries:

Turu.com.au - a division of ACP Magazines Ltd.
Robert Gallagher
rgallagher@turu.com.au
+61 0418 339 386

Useful links:
Turu Launch Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XPfCrKeRZQ
About Turu: http://turu.com.au/about-us.aspx
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TuruAU
Twitter: https://twitter.com/turuau

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Turu