Gold Coast to receive wave-inspired financial boost as Cyclone Gita delivers memorable weekend
THE Gold Coast is set to receive a financial windfall and it’s all due to some very, very big waves.
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TALK about a perfect storm.
A massive weekend swell after days of scorching temperatures is set to deliver the city an unexpected financial boom.
Tens of thousands of people, including the world’s best surfers, are expected to descend on the Gold Coast on a weekend when forecasters are predicting waves up to 8 foot courtesy of Cyclone Gita, which is making its way across the Pacific Ocean.
Gold Coast Tourism’s Dean Gould said the injection of tourists would include heat-drained day-trippers and surfers committed to making the most of the huge swell.
“The reality is most of us have to work during the week so if we can align the planets and get good weather and great surf on a weekend, everyone in the tourism industry is happy,” he said.
“There’s no doubt a big swell draws the opportunistic traveller who loves surfing and can access the Gold Coast from Brisbane and northern New South Wales.
“(Day-trippers) obviously don’t spend as much as an overnight visitor but they’re a huge market. The drive market represented 8 million visitors last year and they spent close to $800 million, an average of $100 each.
“We expect (huge swells) to drive big surges in visitor numbers and when you combine it with the hot weather we’ve had, all of Southeast Queensland is going to be looking for respite and the Gold Coast is the best place for it.”
CSIRO surf researcher Neil Lazarow has previously estimated a good swell to be worth millions of dollars to a local economy via the likes of travel and accommodation.
“Surfers are passionate about (swells),” Mr Gould said.
“They monitor the surf along the east coast (of Australia) and if they’ve got the convenience of a weekend, they can get up here on a plane from Sydney in an hour and a half. They can be in the water after about two hours.”
Among those making the most of the swell will be some of the world’s best surfers.
With the World Surf League’s Quiksilver and Roxy pros only three weeks away, the likes of local heroes Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson will likely be joined in the line-up by international stars who have decided to set up camp early.
“When you’ve got the big surf, you definitely expect to see the big names like Mick Fanning around,” said Café DBAR manager Emily Rachdecon, who is expecting a swell-inspired boom.
“We’re always pretty busy up here but when there’s a big swell, we’ve definitely got more people coming in for coffee and takeaway sales go crazy.
“Even if (the swell) is too big for you, it’s fun to sit down on the beach and watch everyone pulling into big waves, especially with a coffee in hand.”
Coastalwatch surf forecaster Ben Macartney said most of Cyclone Gita’s swell-producing winds were directed at southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.
“(Saturday) is looking more user-friendly in the 4-6ft range … but Sunday is when it will really start to get bigger and we could be looking at really powerful 6-8ft waves,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if guys fly in for this, even if just to score Kirra when it’s good … I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a full house (in the line-up).”
Dredger has beaches set for pounding
MAYOR Tom Tate says the city’s beaches are ready for the pounding that awaits them — largely thanks to a much-photographed Danish hopper dredger.
With massive swells set to hit the coast, residents and tourists are set to see an increased amount of sand scarping along the strip, with beaches such as Burleigh and Main Beach already impacted in recent days.
However, Mr Tate said the beaches were “holding up well” on the back of last year’s multimillion-dollar offshore dredging program that saw a 111m barge pump sand towards the coastline for several months.
“Three million cubic metres of sand was shifted from the deeper water behind the break to the beaches,” he said of the Denmark-owned Balder R, which became something of a tourist attraction.
“That has given incredible volume to our beaches (and) complemented the annual sand pumping and dredging we do at Tallebudgera and Currumbin.
“Anyone who criticises the $13.9 million investment in the sand dredging operation last year has no idea about coastal engineering and sand drift.
“To the naked eye, sand scarping on a beach may appear to be sand lost straight out to sea (but) often the sand still runs along the foreshore so the protection remains, albeit further north.”
Mr Tate said council had also stockpiled millions of cubic metres of sand at The Spit but it would only be used to replenish beaches in the case of a pending disaster.
“A likely scenario would be if a revetment wall or asset was under actual threat such as a building or the Surfers Esplanade,” he said.
“It really is an emergency stockpile … there is no other coastal city or town putting such investment into its number one tourist attraction.”
Yesterday’s swell saw the closure of beaches north of North Burleigh, with lifeguard superintendent Chris Maynard saying they would likely be joined by those to the south today.
“If people are venturing into the ocean on any sort of craft, remember it’s only an area for experienced surfers,” he said.
“People should also stay from the shoreline as there will be strong surges that can be unexpected and knock you off your feet.”