Bold spirit pivotal to recapturing glory days

After four decades in the tourism industry and more than 50 years living on the Gold Coast, Peter Doggett contemplates the ideas and people who built our city and says we should look to the past in shaping the future

Bulletin JUST imagine … a state-ofthe-art hovercraft ready to whip tourists down the Broadwater before hanging a left into the Brisbane River. No traffic, just a short trip on a ship with million-dollar ocean views that can drop you into the heart of the city or even the airport.

Given the troubled waters the Gold Coast’s proposed cruise ship terminal has faced, it’s an idea that’s bound to sink rather than swim. Except, it already happened. Tourism industry stalwart Peter Doggett says while the Christopher Skase-funded Hover Mirage craft were a super success back in 1988, they would be dead in the water these days. After more than 40 years promoting our city – from his early days at Sea World under Keith Williams, to a member of the boards of both Tourism Australia and Destination Gold Coast, to his recently relinquished post as CEO of Connecting Southern Gold Coast – Peter says the city should look to its past when shaping the future.

“In the ’70s and ’80s we really had some visionary businessmen who were prepared to take risks to make this city dynamic,” says Peter, who retired earlier this year.

“Of course, it was easier to take risks back then. These days there is so much regulation that it’s ridiculously hard to get anything started.

“Regulation means expense, which is why our developments are now driven by corporations. Instead of individuals who live here and work here, it’s big companies – most of whom are foreign owned or foreign funded – who are making the decisions. And they don’t like to think big because it’s not ‘safe’.

“Skase’s hovercraft would never float these days for the sake of the three-toed, blue-tongued yabby. I’m all for environmental protection but sometimes you have to draw the line.

“All of that infrastructure they built back then – theme parks, international hotels, innovative transportation – we haven’t topped that. We’ve gotten rid of so many things they created that, really, would be such a success these days.

“Can you imagine if the chairlift up to the Magic Mountain bar was still in operation? Every millennial would be riding that thing just to snap a selfie.

“I think we need to try to get back in touch with that have-a-go spirit we had.”

Not that Peter is sniping at the current state of tourism in this city.

In fact, he accepts that the playing field is a distinctly different environment from the “olden days’’.

He says the true golden era of Gold Coast tourism was actually in the mid-’90s, when Asian markets could not get enough of our sun, surf and sand. But economic crises, terrorism and the disruption of the traditional tourism industry up-ended the game.

“Back in 1996 the number of Japanese tourists to the Coast was about 320,000. Now, it’s 65,000,” he says.

“We just completely lost them. It’s not any one reason why. You can never stay the flavour of the month forever, our air links change – losing Ansett was a huge blow, the Japanese economy suffered.

“But it’s not easy to find a new market to take their place. And there just isn’t a market like that anymore. The days of selling packages and the influence of travel agencies is largely over. The market is so fragmented now it’s very difficult to dominate.

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t try. One part of the equation is working on what we offer. Just like the theme parks create new rides, we need to offer new attractions as a city.

“I think we also need to take a good, hard look at ourselves. A lot of our buildings are really getting old and need some TLC. We need constant renewal because tourists don’t want to have the same experience every time.

“The other part of the tourism equation is making inroads into markets like India and Canada and making connections with our counterparts over there. Relationships matter.

“Domestic tourism is great but we need to pursue those international visitors as well.

“China is another big market for us but it’s already going off the boil. It’s a tricky industry and I don’t see it getting any easier.”

Peter says securing the 2032 Olympics for the southeast region would be a great kickstart, as long as we have learned our lessons from the Commonwealth Games.

He says while the 2018 Games were a huge success from an infrastructure and event perspective, the promised flow-on effects never eventuated. “The Commonwealth Games were a success. But yes, we could do better in certain areas. The promised positives to small business never eventuated and that industry, along with tourism, is the lifeblood of this city.

“The traffic management was too good.

“An empty city doesn’t exactly create that festive, celebratory atmosphere.

“But I think with the Olympics spread out over a greater geographic area, there won’t be as much risk or impact. We already have so much of the infrastructure here, we should use it.”

However, Peter says the decision to host beachfront music festival SandTunes in Coolangatta this December is a step in the wrong direction.

He says although he is happy to support new festivals, this one is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“If it was at The Spit, then it’s a great idea. It’s still not a huge money-maker since most of these festival-goers are not going to be staying in high-end accommodation or dining out – they are there to go to the concert and that’s where they will spend their money. But it does increase awareness of our city and that’s a good thing.

“But hosting it in Coolangatta in summer is just