Gold Coast tourism: Mayor Tom Tate pushes for theme park rides and students on mayoral mission

A ‘HI-tech’ Harry Potter theme park ride and securing thousands of extra students are on the Gold Coast’s wishlist in the latest push to continue the city’s love affair with the lucrative Chinese market.

NEW theme park rides and adding thousands of new international students to the Gold Coast’s population are on the agenda as the mayor spruiks the city in Asia.

Mayor Tom Tate arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a week-long mayoral mission which will take him to Chengdu in mainland China and Thailand.

Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin from Taipei, Cr Tate said he was confident of boosting the city’s tourism numbers, as well as securing greater investment in the health and knowledge precinct.

Artists impression of Dreamworld’s new attraction

In Taipei Cr Tate will:

• Meet the Mayor of Taipei who wants to send an athletics team to Gold Coast Marathon.

• Spruik the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct to Top 12 Taiwanese biotech firms

• Meet with representatives of Brogent Technologies, the company behind Dreamworld’s newest ride, which will open in December.

• Presenting the city to Taiwan’s top 10 education providers in Taiwan to try to boost tertiary student numbers.

Cr Tate said the student numbers could grow dramatically.

Mayor Tom Tate arrived in Taiwan for a week-long mayoral mission to spruik the Coast.

“We currently have 4000 from that region while our total tertiary international numbers are as high as 29,000,” he said.

“We would like at least 2000 more Taiwanese students to move to the Coast to study.

“The point of this mission is to learn about, share and exchange technology as well as create jobs in the fields of IT, biotechnology and other businesses which would allow people to co-locate on the Gold Coast.

WHAT COAST THINKS OF $600 MILLION THEME PARK

Cr Tate yesterday met with representatives of King Car International, Taiwan’s largest coffee producer to discuss potential retail expansion to the Coast.

While in Taipei, Cr Tate will also meet officials from Cutting Edge, a software firm which supplied Oxenford’s Village Roadshow Studios with millions of dollars’ worth of post film production equipment.

Cr Tate is visiting Taipei, Taiwan.

Councillors voted to fund the mayor’s travel during the trip but Cr Tate is privately funding the travel and accommodation of Mayoress Ruth Tate.

The Mayor said he hoped to attract more new theme park rides based on the ‘i-ride’ technology used by Brogent.

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The Mayor wants a Harry Potter-themed ride.

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“I’m keen to learn about the newest technologies for these hi-tech rides — you’ll be strapped in and feel like you are flying over the city.

“Personally I would like a Harry Potter-themed one but what we are trying to do is encourage them to bring more rides of this sort to the city.”

The Mayor will fly to Chengdu on Tuesday where he will also discuss the health and knowledge precinct and sign a further agreement with the Chinese city, which he tips will officially become our next sister city within a year.