Most visitors from interstate: report
NEW data reveals the vast majority of visitors to the Gold Coast are from interstate, confirming the shocking impact on the tourism economy from the border closure.
The research also shows the Glitter Strip had recovered from the bushfires in the Hinterland in September last year before COVID-19 hit.
LNP leader Deb Frecklington says the latest Tourism and
Events Queensland research shows 86 per cent of interstate arrivals were from NSW and Victoria.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk’s border shambles is closing businesses and costing jobs on the Gold Coast,” Ms Frecklington told the Bulletin.
The data, for the year ending December 2019, indicates 52 per cent of visitors were interstate travellers.
“Interstate travel to the Gold Coast grew by 6.4 per cent to a record 2.2 million visitors,” the Gold Coast Regional Snapshot said.
“The holiday segment increased by 9.4 per cent to 1.2 million visitors and the Visiting Friends and Relatives visitation grew 27 per cent to a record 644,000.
“The Gold Coast welcomed a record number of visitors from Sydney, up 11.7 per cent to 694,000, while visitation from Melbourne grew by 6.5 per cent to 423,000.”
While the early September bushfires might have deterred visitors to the Coast, the quarter data “suggests that this holiday destination recovered in December”.
A report this week showed the Coast will lose more than $1.2 billion in interstate tourism revenue in the next three months unless the border is opened up.
Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey found southern visitors spent three times more than intrastate travellers ($374 million) in the July quarter last year.
THE posting of police officers and volunteers at border checkpoints is costing taxpayers $8500-plus a week for delivered catering plus unspecified mobile heatings costs.
It comes amid revelations 36 bikie-busting Rapid Action Patrol officers – a third of the squad – are working shifts on the border, which has been closed since late March.
The LNP has criticised the diversion of bikie police to patrol the controversial border blocks but Queensland Police have defended the deployment saying they had the “necessary skills”.
Now the Bulletin can reveal taxpayers shelled out $8565 for catered food deliveries to border staff for the first week of June. The 24/7 border patrols involve officers on shift getting one hot catered meal a day, and heaters during the overnight shift.
A Queensland Police statement confirmed in the sevenday week commencing June 1 a total of $8565 was spent on meals supplied to QPS and SES volunteers.
The cost per week varies as the number of staff on Gold Coast border sites differs week to week.
But at $8500 a week, that would mean upwards of $60,000 would have been spent on catered food. The cooler weather has meant police have brought in heaters to keep staff warm at night but police said the cost associated