Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo cheers Japan tourism surge to Gold Coast thanks to Japanese Airlines, ANA

JAPANESE visitors are back in love with the Gold Coast. fuelling $30 million in extra tourism spending for a total of $119m in the past year.

Federal Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo in Japan on a trade, investment and tourism trip is talking up Australian and Gold Coast as destinations for Japanese visitors.

JAPANESE visitors are back in love with the Gold Coast pumping $30 million in extra tourism into the city in the past year.

The number of Japanese tourists surged by 19.8 per cent from 2015 to last year, totalling 63,331 visitors.

That compared to a 13.5 per cent rise in other international visitors to the city.

The Japanese jump sparked five per cent more bed nights but a whopping $30m more in spending to $119 million, a 33.7 per cent increase.

Federal Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo said the new figures, prepared by Tourism Research Australia, showed “Japan’s love affair with the Gold Coast is back on”.

Federal Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo with Hiroski Ikeda, President of Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) Metropolitan Corp, and JTB travel agents: “Japan’s love affair with the Gold Coast is back on.”

“Several years ago those numbers were declining, but I’ve been very focused and the Coalition has been very focused on restoring growth.

“It’s particularly encouraging given we have been able to reverse the trend.”

Japanese visitor numbers to Australia more than halved in the late 2000s as the Japanese economy tanked.

“It’s a good rebound and we need to make sure we provide quality experiences for these Japanese tourists.”

Mr Ciobo, who has spent the past three days in Japan promoting trade and tourism, said the Coast’s desirability and boosted flights between the two countries were behind the increases.

“Tourism Australia (TA) is putting a strong emphasis on the Gold Coast as well.”

Mr Ciobo met with one of Japan’s largest outbound travel operators and said they highlighted Cairns and the Gold Coast as popular destinations for Japanese.

TA executive general manager of corporate affairs Karen Halbert said the return of Japanese Airlines and ANA direct flights to Australia had been crucial the past two years.

Japanese visitors loved Gold Coast retail experiences such as Pacific Fair, the ease of getting around proximity of everything, she said.

“We are seeing more Free independent Travellers coming in families or couples or smaller groups than before.

“They tend to stay longer and spend more.

“The great thing about those air services is they are quality service airlines so people flying with them travel around spending money,” she said.

JAPAN’S GC SURGE

* 19.8 per cent more Japanese visited Gold Coast in 2016 compared to 2015.

* That compares to growth of 5 per cent and 2.6 per cent the preceding two years.

* 33.7 per cent rise in Japanese spend on Gold Coast to $119m in 2016 compared to 2015.

* Compares to 10 per cent and 7.3 per cent rises the preceding two years.

* 4.74 per cent drop in spending on Gold Coast from the rest of foreign visitors in 2016.