Race to be on top of our game

A RESURGENT tourism sector will inject more than $45bn into the Gold Coast’s economy in the next decade according to new statistics, with industry leaders mapping out a plan to make it boom again.

Tourism officials are putting the finishing touches on a new game plan which will guide the city’s tourism agenda for the next decade.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, based on an analysis of the industry over the previous decade, projects the $45bn target.

The 2032 strategy, aimed at bettering that figure, will be presented to Gold Coast City Council in coming weeks.

Destination Gold Coast interim CEO Karen Bolinger said the industry had a strong summer which was a small taste of what was to come.

“Yes $45 billion is a big number but we have this runway leading up to the Olympics and we need to find opportunities to deliver on it,” she said.

“Tourism employs more than 44,000 people on the Gold Coast and 26,000 small businesses around it and while there are economic headwinds coming.”

But she said plans for the Olympics tourism push needed to be settled years earlier than people realised.

“We need to have our ducks lined up by 2028 because there is when the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics happens and that’s when the world gets a preview of what ours will look like,” she said.

“We need to get the body of work done in the next few years to see whether we need

Everyone thinks we have a lot of time but we don’t, which is why we need to be planning

KAREN BOLINGER

more hotel infrastructure, airline access or new products.

“Everyone thinks we have a lot of time but we don’t, which is why we need to be planning and working up a framework because Games are (not just the sport) they are the legacy they leave.”

Ms Bolinger, who has spent her career working in tourism, was named interim CEO of Destination Gold Coast following the departure of Patricia O’Callaghan.

A permanent replacement is yet to be named while council continues its review of its subsidiary entities. The review is due this month.

Ms Bolinger will be one of the keynote speakers at February 16’s Gold Coast Economic Business Health Check, which will be hosted by the Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce. at the Mantra on View in Surfers Paradise

The tourism industry is slowly recovering from the devastating blow of Covid and border closures, which saw it lose more than $3bn in value.

However the reopening of borders a year ago this week saw the industry begin to bounce back, with strong domestic visitors, though international tourism remains stubbornly slow.

The total number of visitor nights grew 3.5 per cent to 11.8 million nights, according to data compiled by Tourism Research Australia, while tourists last year spent on average $1033 per head, a 14.7 per cent increase on the $90 recorded in 2021 and up 17.6 per cent on the $878 per head in 2019.

Mayor Tom Tate said cohosting the Olympics and Paralympics offered the city a “unique opportunity” to improve its tourism infrastructure for the future.

But he said it was critical for new attractions to be created to bolster the Coast’s credentials and lure back return visitors in an increasingly competitive market.

“From a Gold Coast perspective, we need to encourage more private sector investment in new tourism products and experiences,” he said.

“Global tourists have huge choices now the world is reopening ... so we must refresh our offerings if we are to retain the title of No. 1 tourism destination.”