Gold Coast tourism: New data reveals how much industry is worth to Glitter Strip
The tourism industry’s value to the Gold Coast economy and job creation is booming, with new data revealing just how valuable it is to the Glitter Strip.
Lifestyle
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THE tourism industry’s value to the Gold Coast economy and job creation is booming having soared 20 per cent on both counts, a new report reveals.
Tourism is now worth an incredible $4.65 billion annually to the city’s gross regional product and employs 42,000 people, data being released today by Regional Tourism Accounts shows.
Both figures represent a near 20 per-cent growth year-on-year.
Assistant Tourism Industry Development Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the new data indicated strength in the Gold Coast’s economy.
“We invest in tourism to create jobs on the Gold Coast,” she said. “Today’s data is a great indication of the strength of our economy.
“We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Why wouldn’t you want to visit the Gold Coast?”
Tourism Minister Kate Jones said: “Our regional areas outside of Brisbane in particular rely heavily on tourism, contributing eight per cent of total Gross Regional Product and employing 105,700 people – that’s one in nine jobs,” she said.
“We are working with our industry to ensure we are delivering the best experiences for consumers, investing in new attractions and infrastructure and growing aviation access into Queensland.
“We are also continuing to build our calendar of events, supporting existing events that we know attract visitors and bringing new events exclusively to Queensland.”
The data comes on the back of strong tourism figures from the National Visitor Survey which was released in October.
It revealed for the year ending June 30:
* A record number of people from Sydney and Melbourne visited the Gold Coast, up by 13.2 per cent and 17.1 per cent respectively;
* The number of Brisbane day-trippers visiting jumped by 35 per cent to 1.5 million people.
*About 4.1 million domestic tourists spent more than $3.7 billion, up 20 per cent on the previous year. This compares to $3.1 billion in 2014;
* The total number of visitor nights increased 1.5 per cent to 9.7 million;
* Visitor arrivals declined 2.1 per cent, with a 17 per cent fall in Chinese visitors.
* Kiwi tourists jumped nine per cent;
* Queensland’s total visitor expenditure was up 8.6 per cent year-on-year.
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The Gold Coast tourism industry is bracing for another major boost next month when the city hosts the largest Japanese business events group to visit in more than a decade.
Electrical retailer Nojima will bring 3500 delegates to a conference that is expected to inject $8.4 million into the local economy.
According to data released earlier this year, 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.
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