Australia still loves us

Domestic overnight visitor numbers tantalisingly close to 4m mark

THE Gold Coast welcomed a record 3.9 million domestic overnight visitors in the last year, according to the latest national visitor survey.

The latest Tourism Research Australia data shows the city is also reversing a recent trend of shorter stays but is still losing ground when it comes to making money from visitors once they are here.

It reveals visitors spent $3.07 billion in the year to March, 3.5 per cent higher

than the previous year, but the number of visitors rose by more than twice that factor, jumping 7 per cent to 3.9 million, meaning the average spend per visitor was down by

0.52 per cent. Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan said Cyclone Debbie, and the Easter holidays moving out of that quarter compared with the year before, affected the local figures.

“We have seen a slight drop in daytrippers to the Gold Coast and the average length of stay for business events and conferences is also a little softer,” he said.

“So even within those overall positive figures there are segments where we have to continue to work hard for success. It is an extremely competitive environment.”

The figure reflects record growth in visitor numbers for Australia, which rose by 3.1 per cent, and Queensland, which was up by 4.3 per cent.

The total number of domestic nights spent on the Gold Coast by visitors hit 14.3 million, with the average length of stay stable at 3.7 nights.

The same survey last year registered a drop in the year to March 2016 to 3.65 nights per visitor from four nights the previous year.

Federal Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo said it was a good result for the city.

“This is great news for the Gold Coast and all those employed in the tourism industry,” he said.

Today’s figures combined with this month’s International Visitor Survey reveal more than 4.9 million international and Australian tourists visited the Gold Coast in the year to March 2017, spending almost $4.3 billion in just 12 months.

The surveys show overnight trips to the Gold Coast by domestic and international tourists have increased by seven per cent since 2014 to more than 24 million.

Queensland Minister Kate Jones said the growth in expenditure across Queensland was double that of NSW.