Gold Coast tourism: Federal Government $10m lifeline for struggling industry
More than $10 million in fresh tourism funding will be put towards fast-tracking new attractions in a bid to lure visitors back to the Gold Coast.
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MORE than $10 million in fresh tourism funding will be put towards fast-tracking new attractions in a bid to lure visitors back to the Gold Coast.
Delighted tourism leaders are calling for a meeting of minds to determine the most effective use of the funding, with options ranging from opening up new walking paths through the Hinterland to beach clubs.
But one of the industry’s leading figures says it will not come close to plugging the hole left by the lack of international visitors.
The Commonwealth funding was among $50 million handed out to nine regions on Sunday to mark World Tourism Day and will be delivered over a two-year period.
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Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan said there were a number of projects the Gold Coast needed to get going.
“We need to understand exactly what is available but I will ensure that Destination Gold Coast is front and centre of the planning for the best use of these funds,” he said.
“We need walking tracks, opening up iconic experiences, everything from beach clubs to getting the dive wreck project built.
“Given we are the most important tourism destination in Australia, this money will mean infrastructure can be created to get more people to come here, stay longer and generate employment.”
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Mr Donovan called for key players in the tourism sector to meet and determine the most effective way to spend the funding and called for Mayor Tom Tate to lead the charge.
“What we really need to do now is to get the key players together to work out what this infrastructure can be so we can ensure that we get the biggest bang for our buck.
“It is my belief that this process must be led by the Mayor.”
Cr Tate said the funding came at a critical time as traders turned their attention to the traditionally busy summer period.
“This is great news and at a crucial time as we see border restrictions slowly starting to ease,” he said.
“It’s more important than ever that the Gold Coast is top of mind for those planning a domestic holiday.
“I’m confident Destination Gold Coast will put this funding to good use and capitalise on this opportunity.”
It comes just months after the Gold Coast City Council rejected Destination Gold Coast’s push to secure an extra $4.1 million of funding, citing an “underwhelming” presentation on how the organisation planned to claw back some of the $4.3 billion lost to the tourism industry from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista left the organisation six weeks later.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind welcomed the funding but said it was not enough to plug the economic hole left by COVID and called on the Federal Government to step up its support to record levels.
“It is good the Federal Government funding is going towards the industry and Queensland has done well out of it, with three regions receiving funding because of their heavy reliance on international tourism,” he said.
“What we hope is that the Federal Government will step up the support even further to close the gap left by the absence of events, international and corporate travel.
“They have left a huge hole which must be filled for the next few years.
“We will need continued focus on these issues going forward.”
The Federal Government revealed in early September it would set up a $50 million fund to kickstart the industry.
Under the scheme, businesses will be able to apply for grants to cover up to 50 per cent of the cost of events, trade shows and conferences within Australia in 2021, such as hiring exhibition spaces, printing displays, travel and accommodation.
Moncrieff MP Angie Bell said more than a million international tourists visited the Gold Coast in 2019, spending more than $1.3 billion.
“That was nearly a quarter of the total tourism spend on the Gold Coast and supported 30,000 tourism jobs,” she said.
“With international borders closed we need to attract more domestic tourism.
“The funding will help attract more Australian tourists to the Gold Coast, by adapting marketing and experiences to suit domestic visitors.
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the funding will help the selected regions bounce back from COVID-19, firstly by attracting more Australians and then overseas visitors when international borders re-open.
“The development of new visitor infrastructure, attractions and experiences will not only give more visitors a reason to visit but will generate construction jobs in the short term, before supporting more regional tourism jobs in the longer term,” he said.
The funding has been welcomed by city leaders and tourism bosses as being critical to the revival of the industry, which was worth more than $6 billion before the pandemic hit.
On Sunday morning Fadden MP Stuart Robert, Moncrieff MP Angie Bell and McPherson MP Karen Andrews held a joint press conference at Movie World to spruik the new initiative.
Mr Robert said the funding will be delivered over a two-year period following consultation with regional tourism bodies on the most effective way to allocate the money.
However, Mr Robert refused to comment on whether he supported a push from the Tourism and Transport Forum calling for the JobKeeper program to be extended for another year.
“We’re two weeks away from the budget so let’s let the budget do the speaking of where we go with JobKeeper,” he said.
Mr Robert took a shot at the Queensland Government calling the NSW border closure “diabolical” for business.
“We need the economy open,” he said.
“We don’t need governments doing handouts. We need borders open, we need the economy open. We need a covid safe back to normal (plan) as much as possible. That is what is going to generate economic activity.”
Ms Andrews said the focus needs to be on job creation together with extending visitor stays by offering new experiences.
“We are very keen to make sure that businesses remain open and that is why we are focusing on getting jobs created, jobs for the future, and that is what this package in particular is all about,” she said.
“So the $10 million will go to create the likes of more infrastructure, more experiences for people here on the Gold Coast and that is going to create jobs.”
Ms Bell said struggling tourism businesses need to “hang in there” until the borders reopen.
“There are currently 9700 businesses in Moncrieff … on JobKeeper and of course that will begin to step down now but those businesses that need that support will get that support,” she said.
“But I would encourage them to lift their heads and look forward and try to hang in there and hopefully over time the Victorian market will be opened up and certainly (the) NSW market is the one we need here.
“We need our borders open here. We need consistency across the country for tourism to bounce back.”
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