TOURISM SPENDING ‘FAILURE’
Politicians drop ball
THE Gold Coast’s tourism boss has blasted the “failures” of successive state and federal governments to invest in boosting visitor numbers and building infrastructure.
Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista (pictured) used her keynote address at yesterday’s Gold Coast Bulletin Future Gold Coast forum to deliver an attack on what she called a “lack of investment” and described it as “the biggest issue facing our city and the economy”.
THE Gold Coast’s tourism boss has blasted the “failures” of successive state and federal governments to invest in efforts to boost visitor numbers and build infrastructure.
Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista used her keynote address at yesterday’s Gold Coast Bulletin Future Gold Coast forum to deliver a stinging attack on the “lack of investment”.
She argued investment was key to reversing Queensland’s declining share of tourism visitors.
“Under-investment from successive state and federal governments, which support tourism and the residential population, particularly transport infrastructure, is the biggest issue facing our city and the economy as a whole,” she said.
“Gold Coast visitor numbers have grown moderately each year – and that is something we should be proud of – but Queensland has been losing market share for 20 years in what is a growth market and this has accelerated in the past five years.”
The state of the M1 is a major impediment to the Coast, she said.
“Just imagine what this will look like in 2030 when we have 15,000 people moving here every year,” she said.
Ms Battista praised the leadership of the Gold Coast City Council and the private sector for their investment in the city.
“But this needs to be matched by the federal and state governments to urgently address the M1,” she said.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones hit back, however, saying the State Government had invested heavily in the industry.
“I’m very proud to be the only minister in the history of Queensland to have a dedicated fund for tourism infrastructure,” Ms Jones said. “I’ve listened to the industry and we’re investing more in tourism than ever before.”
Tourism data discussed during the event shows 92 per cent of visitors to the Gold Coast come from within Australia.
Broadwater MP and Opposition tourism spokesman David Crisafulli called Ms Battista’s comments “visionary”.
“She is the breath of fresh air our city needs. They were comments against all levels of government and all political parties … it is about time somebody said that,” he said. He added that if there was “a take home message” from demographer Bernard Salt, who also spoke at the event, “it is that if we stuff up the next decade we are in a world of pain”.
“The attitude of the business community and everyday person is right and state and federal governments have to deliver that infrastructure in the next decade and get serious on marketing expenditure,” he said.
Mayor Tom Tate also blasted the lack of investment in expanding the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, saying that if the State Government couldn’t see the sense in it, they were “fools”.
Cr Tate said the upgrade of transport infrastructure was critical to boosting the city’s tourism
“Everyone recognises that to be the number one tourist destination it means we need to reinvent with new offers like dive sites,” he said.
“If people can’t move around and have the ease of movement then they will not return.
“We must be vigilant not just about locals getting around but tourists too.”
PLENTY has been said this week as leaders and thinkers have sought to mould a plan for the city’s future, but it has taken the seed of a bold initiative for the Gold Coast Marathon to show how important events remain for our economy.
In a city whose lifeblood industry – tourism – demands constant reinvention and gobsmacking new ideas, the Gold Coast has been casting about for initiatives to help take our economy into an era when our population hits the one million mark.
Sometimes, great ideas do not necessarily require a huge new development of hotel towers or theme parks – although they help. The city urgently needs a major upgrading of its convention centre.
But put simply, a plan has been floated to elevate our marathon to the status of the world’s leading races in New York, Boston and London by offering $1 million in prizemoney for a world record set on the course through our city’s scenic streets. Of course, it would apply for both the men’s and women’s events, and that sort of prizemoney eclipses by far what is on offer in those marathons in the US and UK.
Alternatively, the prize pool could be split into $200,000 lots for the fastest marathon ever run by athletes from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), the US, South Korea, China and Japan.
It was revealed separately yesterday that Village Roadshow Theme Parks would become marathon naming-rights sponsor in a three-year deal. As Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said, it is an example of the crucial partnerships that must be forged with the private sector.
But the Bulletin also learned of the prizemoney plan, proposed by Events Management Queensland, while the Future Gold Coast conference was underway.
It all augurs well and is the sort of leftfield thinking that will fire the imagination of endurance athletes everywhere, bringing the world’s best to our city each July, and gives the city incredible promotion worldwide. It’s an idea worth running with.