HIRE THIS FOR $493K PER WEEK
A SUPERYACHT flotilla has descended on the Gold Coast’s biggest shipyard as it becomes a more popular stop-off for repair work.
Among the 18 floating palaces docked at Gold Coast City Marina is SuRi, one of the world’s most impressive expedition superyachts.
The 63-metre stunner – available for charter at an eyewatering $493,000 a week – comes with a massage room, helicopter, sea plane, jacuzzi, gymnasium, helipad and a full play-mode toy box of waverunners, jet skis, kayaks, dive gear, a dune buggy, hovercraft and waterskis.
Its owners prefer to go under the radar but their vessel typically cruises the South Pacific and Fiji region in summer and South America in winter.
GC City Marina CEO Trenton Gay, who has long lobbied for more support for the superyacht sector, said that work was paying off with the influx of big vessels.
“SuRi’s visit is another clear and exciting sign of an increasing influx of larger international vessels choosing to visit the Gold Coast,” he said.
THE burgeoning superyacht sector is a sleeping giant of the Gold Coast economy.
It can be a hard sell for government support given the perception it is rich boys and toys and why should taxpayer funds be splashed attracting more of them our way.
One good reason – like convention visitors they are high-end tourists who spend plenty. Industry veterans note superyachts in port can, as an example, spend thousands on floral arrangements on the board.
But the perception has proved a hurdle for Gold Coast industry players well aware of the benefits if even a small increase in floating palace traffic is directed to southeast Queensland and the Gold Coast. In south-east Queensland, superyacht activity brought $630m into the economy and supported 4500 jobs in 2016. It is tipped to expand to $1.1b and 8000 jobs by 2021.
To be fair, Federal and State politicians have started to take note and ripples of support have transpired.
An international port of clearance has been trialled for more than a year at Southport meaning big and smaller internationally flagged boats can bypass Brisbane and come straight to the Gold Coast as an Australian entry point.
Despite the trial, the Federal Coalition has kept its anchor in deep on freeing up the ability of foreign-flagged superyachts to charter locally. As it stands, they are charged a hefty and off-putting GST fee based on the value of the vessel. Elsewhere such as New Zealand the 10 per cent is based on the value of the charter.
Separately, the Labor State Government has put its money where its mouth is.
In November, Queensland Minister for State Development Cameron Dick revealed $335,000 support for businesses wanting to drive superyacht traffic and committed to a five-year strategy to help at state level.
“We want Queensland to become a leading Pacific superyacht destination,” he said at the time.
Those ripples just might start making some waves in our local economy.