A YOUNG couple new to Mackay were the lucky winners of the Flavours of the World promotion at Helloworld Travel Expo on Saturday.

Mridula Mantravadi and Shreyas Rao took home a luxury eight-day Mekong River cruise for two valued at over $10,000.

The couple said they had been looking around the expo on Saturday, trying to figure out the odds of wining; but despite being right at the front of the stage when the announcement was made, and Mridula's name was called, they said they never expected to win.

Mridula said she'd never won anything before even though she often entered competitions.

To claim the prize, the winners had to be present about 2.30pm. Mridula joked that she was meant to be at work but her boss had let her go early, so she should probably thank him.

The couple admitted they had been collecting the tokens needed to win for the past two weeks.

Both extremely excited with their win, they said they saw the value in travel.

Mridula is in her final year of uni and thinks she'll go on the prize cruise after her exams in November.

"It might be a nice way to celebrate!" she said.

Helloworld director John Cooney has been in the travel industry for 32 years in Mackay and knows first hand Mackay loves to travel.

"Mackay has always been a bunch of good travellers and they're quite educated travellers," he said.

"They want to travel all parts of the globe."

He said current hot spots selling were "a lot of polar" such as the North and South Pole, as well as Europe, potentially to escape the heat of home.

With a Mackay cruise terminal on the drawing board, it's only fitting that cruises were another popular travel experience as well.