Gold Coast accommodation: New tourism data reveals $1.B tourism spend despite visitor fall

New tourism data reveals a record spend from overseas visitors, bringing more than $1.4 billion into the Gold Coast’s economy. But experienced operators say things are far from rosy for them.

NEW tourism data reveals a record spend from overseas visitors, bringing more than $1.4 billion into the economy.

But experienced Gold Coast tourism industry operators have questioned the figures, saying they are not seeing any boom at the coalface.

Instead, they say many businesses are struggling in the face of an increasingly competitive environment and a significant decline in Chinese tourists.

Surfers Paradise skyline. Picture: Jerad Williams

The International Visitor Survey data reveals:

* 1 million tourists spent $1.4 billion on the Gold Coast in the year ended March 2019 – a 3.8 per cent growth in expenditure year-on-year.

* Visitor arrivals declined 2.1 per cent, with a 17 per cent fall in Chinese visitors.

* Kiwi tourists jumped 9 per cent.

* Queensland’s total visitor expenditure was up 8.6 per cent year-on-year.

Destination Gold Coast's new campaign hero images - the campaign has generated $20 million for the local economy.

But Draculas chief executive Alfie Schmid said the rosy tourism figures were not reflected by the day-to-day experiences of many operators and restaurants.

“You do not need to go further than Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach to see the ‘for lease’ signs and these are more a reflection of our current tourism climate than these fugazi figures,” he said.

“If you walk around these suburbs you do not see a healthy and booming tourism industry.

“There are a lot of establishments on the edge.’’

He said cola and alcohol reps “will tell you their figures are not looking good’’.

Draculas Chief Executive Alfie Schmid

“I would love to know where this money is being spent because it is not at the coalface of small and medium-sized businesses,” Mr Schmid said.

Other tourism industry figures across the city reacted with scepticism to the figures, with many telling the Bulletin they had seen little if any economic uplift in the year since the Games.

One industry leader said much of the spend was generated by Chinese visitors on pre-booked group tours that visit preset specific locations.

The figures come as a Gold Coast tourism campaign launched earlier this year to capitalise on the Commonwealth Games generated an estimated $20 million economic return for the industry.

Kate Jones. Picture Annette Dew

Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the campaign had resulted in sales on 4000 holiday packages, generating 21,000 room nights.

“Tourism is a cornerstone of our economy and vital to jobs growth in Queensland,” she said.

“That’s why we’re working harder than ever before to attract more international visitors to our state. Today’s data proves that our strategy is working.

“With more than 1.5 billion viewers worldwide, the Commonwealth Games gave the Gold Coast the kind of exposure money can’t buy.

“The challenge was always going to be converting that exposure into a win for the local tourism industry. Today’s results show we’ve achieved that.”

The data comes from international visitor surveys conducted quarterly by Tourism Research Australia.

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CEO of Destination Gold Coast, Annaliese Battista. Picture: Jerad Williams

According to the data, spending by overseas visitors jumped 6 per cent year-on-year to an average of $1323 per trip.

Despite the fall in Chinese tourists, they remained the city’s biggest market, with 251,000 coming to the Coast in the year ending March.

Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista said the decline in Chinese visitors was consistent with global trends over the past 12 months.

“However, expenditure from our Chinese visitors remains high,” she said.

“Tour groups continue to outpace free and independent high-value Chinese travellers who seek more experiential interactions with our slice of paradise.’’