Aussie businesses complain Google sending outback tourists off the map

Tourism operators in Australia's vast outback say wild inaccuracies in Google Maps are making remote hot spots appear out of reach, deterring people from visiting the region.

A number of businesses promoting their small towns as remote tourist destinations in the northeastern state of Queensland complain of cases where a typical six-hour drive has been estimated by Google Maps to take up to 11 hours.

The complaints prompted the Queensland government to write to Google, which on Wednesday promised to look into the issue.

"People aren't coming to places because they think it takes too long, or they're missing opportunities to refuel and they're getting sent off on another road that has no fuel," Robyn Mackenzie, of the Eromanga Natural History Museum, told national broadcaster ABC.

"People will get frightened of travelling in the outback because they don't have any confidence in the mapping," the general manager of the small town museum added.

Peter Homan of the Queensland Outback ...