REMEMBER WHEN

“THE best August school holidays season in many years.”

That’s how travel and accommodation spokesmen summed up bookings.

They said the Gold Coast had ‘bounced back’ with all of its old verve and vigour.

The torrent of southern tourists began to flow into the resort city and over the next four days, TAA had scheduled 26 flights into the Gold Coast while Ansett-ANA had arranged another 15.

Viv Greer, president of the Accommodation Owners’ Association, said no member motel had a vacancy, but independent operators had a few empty rooms.

“The outlook is the brightest for two years,” he said.

“The Gold Coast was hoping for a big lift in visitors, but the lift is bigger than anyone expected.

“The return of the tourists is very welcome. Everybody can do with a change in fortunes.”

A TAA spokesman said flight bookings from Sydney and Melbourne were ‘infinitely better’ than the previous year.

Electras, one of the bigger types of aircraft for which Coolangatta was reconstructed, were to be used extensively to bring the tourists here, he said.

Ansett-ANA described bookings as ‘far better than last year and the best for many years’.

Both airlines also reported a boom in pre-holiday bookings.

They said the number of people coming into the Gold Coast was ‘amazing’.

Main Roads Department officials estimated an average of 10460 cars a day would cross the border from New South Wales when the southern season began.