REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday, December 22, 2007

GOLD Coast Tourism boss Pavan Bhatia resigned and was expected to take up a senior role soon with a new hotel or tourism-related company in either Melbourne or the Gold Coast.

Mr Bhatia’s shock resignation came three years after he took over as the head of the city’s major tourism body.

The Indian-born and Bond University educated Mr Bhatia would not comment on what job he would take but said he would retain his love for the Gold Coast.

“I am taking a break (and) have something in the pipeline,” he said.

During his lively three-year term, Mr Bhatia’s greatest achievement was his persuasive argument to extract $10 million a year for five years out of the Gold Coast City Council for a massive global promotional campaign.

Mr Bhatia, 48, said he felt he had achieved much as the organisation’s chief executive and he wanted to devote more time to his family and ‘take up a new challenge’.

“I came to Gold Coast Tourism to deliver on a huge brief, which I can today say has been achieved and we are on track for 2010,” he said.

“It has been a massive three years. Gold Coast Tourism has changed the tourism model with our strategy and funding agreement, even receiving national awards for our innovative plan.

“The city now has a destination-marketing organisation with international competencies and a global footprint of offices and, most significantly, we have pushed visitor arrivals and visitor spending to record new levels.”