Why Movie World hotel plan should be warmly welcomed

A proposed new hotel could be the start of something very special for the Gold Coast, writes Keith Woods.

IN March 2020 the scene at Movie World was a bleak one.

The car park was empty. The rides were not operating. The screams of delight were no more.

Nobody knew if the popular Oxenford fun palace and other theme parks would survive what at that time was an indefinite shutdown, caused by the outbreak of Covid-19.

Fast-forward two and a half years and the landscape could not look more different.

Thanks to government support and the fortitude of its management and staff, Movie World and next-door TopGolf, Wet’n’Wild, Paradise Country and Outback Spectacular have never been busier.

If anything, Movie World has been a victim of its own success, with its major issue in the September school holidays being the scale of the crowds that descended. It led to more complaints about long lines than theme park bosses were likely comfortable with.

The empty car park at Movie World pictured when it was closed after the outbreak of Covid-19. AAP Image/Darren England.

Now, hot on the heels of plans for a new Wizard of Oz precinct at the park, we hear that Movie World owner Village Roadshow Theme Parks is planning to build a 22-storey hotel at its front gate.

Anyone who really cares about the future of the Gold Coast should be as thrilled by this news as a rider on the DC Rivals hypercoaster.

What tourism here really needs is Village Roadshow to build on its success and move up to a level that would put it on par with some of the finest theme parks in the United States. The new hotel could allow them to take another giant step along that road.

Many interstate tourists have the resources to travel to California and enjoy the likes of Disneyland, Universal Studios and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

That’s the competition our theme parks face, and while reaching Disney levels may never be possible, they need to get close enough that no one grumbles after visits here.

The new $333m hotel and function centre proposed for Movie World.

We heard a lot from politicians pre-Covid about the need to create a ‘Global Tourism Hub’ on the Gold Coast.

The proposal, of course, was always a smokescreen for a second casino, with gaming revenue flowing to state government coffers the real target.

What was ignored was the fact that we already have the makings of such a global tourist hub amid the theme parks in the city’s north – minus the stench of money laundering and problem gambling.

How may things look if the same energy was devoted by politicians to helping our theme parks reach a level of ‘global’ note?

Federal and state politicians did well in helping the theme parks through the dark days of Covid. But it shouldn’t end there. They should be sitting down with the management of Village Roadshow and Dreamworld and saying, ‘we value what you do, tell us how we can help you grow bigger and better’.

The hotel will be located at the theme park’s front gate.

A little more help with transport would be good for starters.

It’s less than ideal that tourists using public transport have to switch to buses after getting off the light rail at Helensvale. Especially since it gets so close.

Has anyone ever seriously looked at what it would take to push it the short extra distance across the M1 to Entertainment Drive?

It would no doubt be pricey, but in the name of creating a world class tourism destination, everything should be on the table.

The development could become a landmark on the northern Gold Coast.

For now, Movie World should be supported every step of the way in its hotel proposal. Given how well Village Roadshow run their Sea World Resort – it’s been voted Best Family Resort in Australia 12 years in a row – we can be confident it will be a massive asset to the city.

There are some rumblings from locals about the proposed 22-storey height, but we cannot think small when it comes to our theme parks.

And I say that as a columnist who, to paraphrase a famous Sarah Palin skit, can see Movie World from my house. Done right, this hotel could in fact become a landmark.

One that denotes a very welcome change from the empty scenes at the same spot just over two years ago, and marks the beginning of a true ‘Global Tourism Hub’ for the Coast.

Follow @keithjwoods

Originally published as Why Movie World hotel plan should be warmly welcomed