Sports to drive new Coast age
THE Gold Coast has locked in a host of major events featuring Commonwealth Games venues as the State Government works on making sport a $1.5 billion annual tourism driver.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told the Gold Coast Bulletin the Coast would continue as a focal point for major international sporting and business events as the legacy of the event.
“There is an exciting lineup of events scheduled for the Gold Coast over the rest of the year, due to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and continue to stimulate the local economy,” the Premier said.
The government predicts the Games will cause a reverse in sporting traffic with Brisbane fans more likely to visit the Glitter Strip.
“Off the back of the sellout success of the GC2018 Rugby Sevens, we expect a large
In the last of a fivepart series, the examines the Games legacy TODAY: BUSINESS
crowd when the Wallabies play Argentina at Cbus Stadium in September,” the Premier said.
“The lawn bowls was another standout success of the Games, and organisers of the Australian Open event at Broadbeach in June have extended the entry deadline to cater for increased demand.”
Ms Palaszczuk said annual big events like the Gold Coast Marathon would continue to attract tens of thousands of runners from around the world. “Being the 40th anniversary of the event this year makes it even more special,” she said.
The Gold Coast has also locked in this year the Gymnastics National Club Carnival, Pan Pacific Masters Games, Coolangatta Gold and UniSport Nationals Division 1 and 2, which is the new format of the University Games.
Squash courts used at the Games are being transferred from Oxenford to a new national squash centre at Carrara as a continuing host of the Australian titles.
Commonwealth Games and Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the Coast would also host the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final, with competitors enjoying the same course as Games athletes.
“I look forward to further negotiations with the aim of announcing new events for the state over the next three to five years,” she said. “Our bold target is to double the current value of Queensland’s events calendar to be worth $1.5 billion to the Queensland economy by 2025.”
Lord Sebastian Coe has encouraged the Coast to bid for the World Athletics Championship but that could again mean changes for Carrara, causing further disruption for the Suns.
The Government has also announced a first-time collaboration between the PGA and one of the largest sports conferences in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Through Tourism and Events Queensland we’ve secured the Money in Sport conference which, for the first time, will be held in conjunction with the Australian PGA in November and December,” Ms Jones said.
“The Queensland Government, via TEQ, brokered this collaboration having seen an opportunity to increase length of stay and leverage synergies between the two events.
“We’ll continue to pursue this strategy of linking major events with relevant industry conferences for the mutual benefit of the host city and event organisers.”