Gold Coast tourism: Destination Gold Coast backs trans-Tasman travel to boost industry

The Gold Coast’s tourism boss says tapping into the lucrative New Zealand market would give the city’s biggest industry a much-needed shot in the arm.

THE Gold Coast’s tourism boss says tapping into the lucrative New Zealand market would give the city’s biggest industry a much-needed shot in the arm.

A travel bubble between Australian states and our trans-Tasman neighbour is on the cards as Victoria is effectively sealed off from the rest of the nation as its COVID outbreak dramatically worsened on Monday.

New Zealand is the Gold Coast’s second-largest international tourism market and Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista said there was strong interest from Kiwis to visit our pristine beaches again.

Annaliese Battista. Picture: Mike Batterham

“That market has responded strongly to our come-and-play branding and the Gold Coast is a favourite destination for Kiwis, so we believe there is pent-up demand for visitation here rather than the capitals,” she said.

“A trans-Tasman bubble between Queensland and New Zealand would be very welcome and it is in our best interests to pursue this massive market.

“It will be some time before Victoria will open up and we need to drive vision to ensure the Gold Coast recovers as quickly as possible.”

Ms Battista said the market perception of the Gold Coast was that it is a safe place to visit.

There is just one remaining active case of COVID-19 in the state.

While Queensland will open its borders this week, Victoria will be excluded.

The southern state has recently proved to be a major market for the Coast.

Destination Gold Coast data reveals visits by Victorians to the city last year were up by 6.4 per cent on the previous 12 months.

There was significant growth in visits from regional Victorians, a field which grew 22 per cent last year.

It comes as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday hinted she would be willing to consider a state-by-state travel bubble with Australia.

Ms Ardern said Australia had indicated it wanted to move as a whole, rather than state-by-state, but New Zealand would be willing to consider deals with safe states.

“The test for us remains the same and our test could apply state by state or at a federal level,” Ardern told Newstalk ZB radio.

New Zealand has just one active known case of COVID-19.

“Australia is really the one who has to make some calls about when they’ll be ready.”

A Federal Government spokesman said the priority remained getting the Australia situation to a point where all the domestic borders could be opened first.