Tourism a $5b bonanza
A NEW snapshot of tourism’s $5 billion value to the Gold Coast shows it provides almost a fifth of gross regional product and one in five jobs.
The breakdown reveals the Gold Coast tourism industry provides 17 per cent of the city’s gross regional product.
Broken down on a per capita basis, gross regional product is $7300 compared to $3700 per capita in Brisbane.
That figure sits at $5600 per capita for regional Queensland and $5300 for all Queensland.
In total, tourism contributes $8.1 billion to the Brisbane economy compared to the $5billion on the Gold Coast.
Statewide, tourism contributed $25billion to and employed 225,000 for the year to June, 2016.
Tourism Research Australia is highlight the data – for the most recently available 2015-16 year – at a regional level for the first time.
Queensland Minister for Tourism Kate Jones said it showed the sector had never been more important to the Gold Coast economy.
“It was worth 17 per cent of the region’s gross regional product – an increase of 10.6 per cent to the year ending June 2016. The tourism industry is one of the strongest employers on the Gold Coast,” she said.
“About 46,000 people work in tourism on the Coast which amounts to 17.5 per cent of the entire workforce.
“That (tourism) workforce has grown 7.5 per cent to the year ending June 2016.”
By comparison in Brisbane it supported 70,300 jobs, about 5.8 per cent of the city’s workforce.
Ms Jones added: “Tourism is the lifeblood of many regional communities, employing more people than the mining and agriculture, forestry and fishing industries combined.
“This data is proof that tourism and events have a huge impact on Queensland’s economy but the industry also contributes greatly to the state’s culture, lifestyle and livability.”
Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said it was very satisfying to see the city had outperformed both regional and the whole of Queensland in growth of gross regional product.
“The 17 per cent GRP figure is something the tourism industry can be very proud of, particularly because it has seen growth of 7.5 per cent in the number of jobs that the industry supports.
“This confirms the fundamental importance of the tourism industry to the Gold Coast economy that delivers in excess of $5 billion annually.”
The snapshot comes after latest statistics showed a 7.2 per cent jump in domestic overnight visitors to almost four million was recorded for the year to June 30.
It mirrored growth in Gold Coast international visitors which also jumped 7.2 per cent, to a record 1.056 million.
It meant the Gold Coast welcomed more than five million overnight visitors for the first time.