Time to tackle tourist ‘issues’

VISITOR numbers keep rising to record levels but “concerning” ongoing drops in spend and bed nights have prompted Gold Coast Tourism to invest in how to tackle the problem.

International tourists into the Gold Coast rose 4 per cent to 1,056,000 for the year to September. It included a record 305,000 Chinese.

But for the same period, foreign visitor spend dropped 4 per cent and bed nights went down 9 per cent for the Gold Coast. By contrast, spend and bed nights were up across Queensland and Australia.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said the dips were a “concerning issue” for the city and he revealed a joint investment with Tourism and Events Queensland in a new study to look at why visitor expenditure was dropping.

Mr Winter said it would “qualify the exact reasons why we are noticing this trend”.

“Even though we have been very successful in driving demand and attracting more people to the Gold Coast we need to make sure they stay longer,” he said.

“The fundamental reason they aren’t staying as long is there are not as many compelling reasons to keep them as we previously had.

“Unfortunately the Gold Coast, apart from the theme parks, has not generated an inventory of new attractions over the past few years.

“Melbourne and Hobart, which are both outperforming us in terms of visitor spend, have all generated new reasons for people to not only visit but stay longer.”

Mr Winter said the nature of holidays was also changing with shorter breaks.

Asked how much responsibility fell onto the marketing by Gold Coast Tourism, Mr Winter said: “It’s nothing to do with the marketing.

“Gold Coast Tourism has performed very well in terms of bringing new people to the Gold Coast.

“It’s the industry itself or changing nature of the industry which has not been able to keep up with offering compelling reasons for people to stay.”

Mr Winter said New Zealand visitation – up 4.1 per cent to 203,000 for the year – was only second to China but had softened in the past quarter.

“NZ is a market very familiar with the Gold Coast so we need new ways to entice them and encourage visitation.”

Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the re-elected Labor Government would invest to capitalise on the Coast’s reputation as the “major events powerhouse” of Queensland: “This data shows we’ve got a solid foundation.”