NEW FLIGHTS SKY THAI
GOLD Coast city leaders are in negotiations to secure direct flights to Thailand’s most popular destinations within a year.
Flights between the Glitter Strip and either Phuket or Bangkok will run three times a week in a deal tipped to inject millions into the Gold Coast economy.
Thai Air Asia has been mooted as the airline of choice because of its competitive rates and modern aircraft.
GOLD Coast city leaders are in negotiations to launch direct flights to Thailand’s most popular destinations within a year.
Flights between the Glitter Strip and either Phuket or Bangkok will run three times a week in a deal tipped to inject millions into the Gold Coast economy.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan this week met with Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsu- rat to discuss the deal.
Minister Kowsurat said the proposal would benefit both destinations.
Thai AirAsia has been tapped as the airline of choice because of its competitive rates and aircraft.
Speaking to the Bulletin from Thailand, Cr Tate said the deal would be shepherded by Mr Donovan, a senior executive with Queensland Airports.
“We presented the city’s capacity as a sports training and events destination, as well as our obvious shared tourism appeal,” Cr Tate said. “I’ve presented the idea of encouraging a direct flight link, from either Phuket or Bangkok, to the Gold Coast.
“The feedback was positive and I’ve now left it with Paul Donovan to progress.”
Cr Tate was in Phuket to sign the first agreement between the tourism destination and the Gold Coast as the two visitor hot spots look to formalise a Sister Cities arrangement.
He said the Coast could offer Phuket knowledge in lifeguard services, beach rubbish collection, sports event management and tourism marketing.
Thailand is one of Australia’s strongest tourism markets, recording doubledigit growth in 2017.
Mr Donovan accompanied the Mayor to visits with the Phuket Tourism Board, Minister Kowsurat and Phuket Vice Governor Prakob Wongmaneerung.
The meeting discussed the Gold Coast tapping into Thailand’s lucrative diving industry to promote the city’s proposed giant pyramid dive attraction. Packaging diving tours with flights has also been discussed.
Other representatives present at the meetings were the Thai-Australia Business Council, Thai Sports Authority and key universities based in Phuket.
Mr Donovan said the Coast delegation had received a strong reception.
“There is no question that being here in-market is the way to go,” he said.
“The Tourism Minister was very, very pleased we are in these discussions.”
AirAsia, the parent company of Thai AirAsia, already has a strong presence at the Gold Coast Airport and flies direct to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo.
NEWS of negotiations between Gold Coast leaders and the Thai Government for direct flights between our two destinations is to be welcomed.
This is an encouraging step towards building the city’s reputation as an international destination.
Tourists from Thailand already visit the city in droves and arrivals recorded a double-digit rise in the past year.
This would also represent a good post-Games win for our tourism sector.
We were promised the Games would deliver for years to come, as the estimated 1.5 billion people who saw our gorgeous backdrop during the competition began to contemplate following the athletes here.
Expanding the network of international connections to the Gold Coast is a necessary precursor to that objective.
The success of this proposed service will be proved by how many people make the journey both to and from Thailand.
That means any deal must be supported by a strong marketing strategy to woo Thais to our beautiful city.
In any case, this potential deal underlines how critical the long-overdue $500 million upgrade of Gold Coast Airport is, and how essential that this happens soon.
Boasting a Rydges-branded hotel, new facilities, aerobridges and eventually a light rail station, this big-budget revamp of the city’s gateway known as Project LIFT cannot happen soon enough.
But it appears the only player in this drawn-out saga to not want this is our national carrier.
Qantas must accept that if it is going to be the overwhelmingly dominant operator in Australia, it must carry some responsibility for maintaining and improving standards for an increasingly discerning travelling public.
Qantas likes to characterise airports as high-profile monopolies.
This is a theory which perhaps holds water at gateway locations such as Sydney or Melbourne but it is not credible in a regional airport such as this, which is far more dependent on the likes of Qantas to deliver the services residents need.
Project LIFT has been on the drawing board for some time and is a bold plan within which are all the elements needed to create a modern entrance to the city that will impress visitors and set the tone for their visit to our incredible city.
It is a great vision which is being stymied by the gorilla in the aviation market – Qantas – much the same as in Townsville.
It even has the backing of Australia’s second-richest man – developer Harry Triguboff, who last week slammed the airport as “stupid” and called for the upgrade to go ahead.
As we look to the future, the diversification of the Gold Coast’s economy will be more important than ever, but we must continue to see our tourism industry given its due and continually renewed.
This helps the city diversify beyond a singular focus on China to our other Asian neighbours.
There is a growing middle class in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia which could be extremely lucrative for the Gold Coast in the future if we tap in now and become established as a go-to destination with competitive rates.