Criticism of marketers ‘bit unfair’

GOLD Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan has hit back at marketing criticism from a boss at theme park giant Village Roadshow.

Village Roadshow executive general manager Bikash Randhawa has called for theme parks to have more prominence in tourism promotions but Mr Donovan yesterday said the spray was “a bit unfair”.

Mr Randhawa said given Village Roadshow’s $100 million spend on attractions in the past year he’d have thought theme parks would be the city’s “headline act”.

He found it “bizarre” no one was talking about an upcoming $30m Topgolf attraction.

Mr Donovan said: “Bikash obviously hasn’t read the stuff I’ve been talking about and he wasn’t at our AGM when I talked up the theme parks or talked up Movie World for what they were doing.

“I think what he said was a bit unfair to have a shot when I have personally been pushing it,” Mr Donovan said.

Mr Donovan said theme parks would always be part of Gold Coast Tourism campaigns but conceded there was scant reference to them in a nationwide promotional booklet this year.

“That was once. Theme parks are part of our DNA but we needed to promote other aspects of the Coast because we needed to move the dial on promotion of the Gold Coast,” he said. He would contact Mr Randhawa soon to reinforce his regard for theme parks.