STATE Minister for Tourism Kate Jones said there is "a real optimism" in the Whitsunday tourism sector as she concluded her visit to the Whitsundays today.

Ms Jones spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week visiting Airlie Beach, Hamilton Island, Daydream Island and Proserpine, talking with key members of the tourism industry about future opportunities and challenges.

She said the Whitsunday Islands were reporting a "bumper holiday season" with full occupancy rates at the moment, but also heard the resorts' concerns.

"All of them want us to act on the islands where there's current former resorts that are no longer in operation, for example South Molle and Hook Island," she said.

"As a Government we've said we're going to look into that." Ms Jones also said tourist visa issues were a concern, where staff were doing their maximum six months' work on the islands before having to do six months' work in the agricultural sector.

"That's making a real challenge for island resorts who invest a lot of money and time in up-skilling their workforce only to lose them," she said.

"That's something we should have a look at. We have had a discussion about visas with former Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash and it's something we will raise with the new minister."

Also meeting with Whitsunday Regional Council mayor Jennifer Whitney and eight tourism operators on Tuesday night, Ms Jones said the feeling around the table was that "they've gone through the tough years and now it's about how we maximise opportunities with the changing market".

"Everyone's saying the low Aussie dollar is having an impact; not only on Chinese visitors but the UK market is coming back.

"Also we know that there's a lot of Chinese investment in the region at the moment... with $2 billion underway or in the pipeline across the region and that is making a difference."

On the recent Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) visitation numbers that showed a 21.4%drop in domestic visitors to the Whitsundays in the year to June, Ms Jones said visitor nights were only down by 2.5%, meaning less people were staying longer. The TEQ numbers also showed a 27.2% drop in domestic visitor expenditure over the same period.