Coast ‘must up its game’

FOREIGN tourists continue to pour into the Gold Coast at record levels but Federal Minister Steven Ciobo says the city continues to lag behind growth in tourism spending nationally.

More than 1,060,000 international visitors hit the Gold Coast in 2017, a four per cent jump on the previous year.

They spent $1.2 billion, latest official figures show.

Gold Coast Tourism bosses, State Tourism Minister Kate Jones and Mr Ciobo hailed the numbers yesterday but the latter also called for the city to up its game on visitor spend.

Despite ongoing rises in international visitor numbers, the Gold Coast has lagged behind most other parts of Australia when it comes to growth rates in tourist spending.

Mr Ciobo revealed the new Tourism Research Australia figures showed overall expenditure by foreign tourists on the Coast dipped two per cent despite numbers going up.

“There is still more work to

be done as we continue to see records being smashed around the nation,” he said.

“More tourist dollars spent means more local jobs and the incoming CEO of Gold Coast Tourism will need to create a solution to increase visitor expenditure.

“The Gold Coast needs to perform better as the tourism industry is critical for our local economy,” Mr Ciobo said.

Gold Coast Tourism’s longserving CEO Martin Winter, who has announced his resignation to take effect later this year, said the foreign visitor rise was great news on the back of a jump in 2016 as well.

“There is a softening in the Chinese market which although still strong is not growing at the same incredible rate in the past,” he said, adding Japan and Korean visitation was increasing.

“It is very satisfying to know the work we are doing globally is now coming to fruition.”

Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan said the figures were “great” but he said not all Chinese internationals were counted because many fly in domestically from Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns.

“I believe we have not counted all the Chinese – we get so many on domestic flights,” Mr Donovan said.

Ms Jones said more flights from Asia and major events, the GC600 and pro surfing contests, were driving visitors.

“The growth we are seeing has a lot to do with the increase in direct flights to Gold Coast Airport,” she said, adding a core strategy on the Coast was stronger links to emerging Asian markets.