Two Tourism and Events Queensland executives have spent more than $27,000 of taxpayer money attending a wild festival in the US state of Nevada, known as Burning Man.

Key points: About 70,000 people flocked to the Burning Man festival in the US this year

About 70,000 people flocked to the Burning Man festival in the US this year Government spokesperson says two Tourism and Events Qld executives were researching for a similar festival for outback Qld

Government spokesperson says two Tourism and Events Qld executives were researching for a similar festival for outback Qld Senior tourism staffers spent almost $260,000 in the 2017-18 financial year, up from $185,000 in 2016-17

The nine-day festival is held in the Black Rock Desert and is designed for a community "dedicated to radical self-reliance", where everyday constraints are thrown out the window.

About 70,000 people flocked to the popular US festival this year.

But newly released government figures show senior public servants attended last year on behalf of the Queensland Government.

Head of group executive events at Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) John Drummond Montgomery and head of Events Operations Rebecca Mantle spent a combined $27,060.

Documents show the pair "met with key international event partners" and went "to gain insights into current trends, ideas, themes and logistics of a large-scale festival".

Mr Drummond Montgomery earns a salary of $317,000 and took at least three trips in the past financial year, including an $11,000 events mission to the US with Tourism Minister Kate Jones and a $45,000 trip to Thailand with two other public servants for the annual SportAccord conference.

Crowd of revellers at the Burning Man festival held in the Black Rock Desert in the US state of Nevada in 2017. ( ABC News: Emily Clark )

Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mander slammed the cost of the Burning Man trip.

"Most Queenslanders would find this obscene, to spend almost $30,000 to attend a festival run by a private company, with no tangible benefits for the state," Mr Mander said.

"[Premier] Annastacia Palaszczuk and her celebrity-chasing Tourism Minister are completely out of touch to think that this passes any kind of credibility test.

"This is a government of hubris — none of it passes the pub test.

"I don't know about Burning Man, but it's definitely burning taxpayers' money."

A Tourism Events Queensland spokeswoman said the executives were conducting research at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. ( ABC News: Emily Clark )

'Burning Man is a benchmark'

A TEQ spokeswoman said the executives were researching for a similar festival they hoped would be launched in outback Queensland.

"Burning Man is a benchmark event for large-scale festivals held in remote locations," she said.

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"Two TEQ representatives went to examine aspects of the event delivery to inform an Outback event concept we are currently developing.

"That included event logistics, safety and communications.

"TEQ is always looking for opportunities to grow the state's major event calendar — which is currently valued at $780 million and we are looking to grow that to $1.5 billion in value for the State by 2025."

The spokeswoman said the visit also included meeting with stakeholders in Nashville and organisers of the World Surfing League to further develop events on the Gold Coast.

Senior tourism staffers spent almost $260,000 in the 2017-18 financial year, up from $185,000 in 2016-17.

Staff at the Department of Premier and Cabinet also spent up big with more than $150,000 of expenses in the last financial year.

Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art sent 17 staffers overseas on trips across a number of countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Turkey and even Iran, costing taxpayers more than $43,000 last year.