Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre: Tourism leaders back expansion as events turned away

Momentum is building behind calls for the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre to be upgraded, as the city is forced to turn away events. FIND OUT MORE

The convention sector is now worth more than $500m annually to the Gold Coast’s economy, renewing calls for the expansion of the city’s facilities.

Industry support for the upgrade and expansion of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre has been growing for more than a decade, with the complex, which opened in mid-2004, now beyond capacity.

In recent years the complex’s managers have been forced to turn away big-ticket events because it lacks the available space.

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The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre was built and opened in 2004 Picture: Supplied by GCCEC

With the building’s halls now booked years in advance, industry leaders say the time is right for an expansion to be considered.

The former state government last year said no upgrade would be on the cards until the late 2030s, but Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn said extra convention space would deliver an economic boost.

“It’s obviously a very lucrative part of the whole visitor economy, with business events at the (convention) centre, which is one of the busiest event venues,” he said.

“We host a full calendar of events there each year and only a few weeks back we had the world title fight with Jai Opetaia, while one of the bigger ones was the Australian Pharmacy Professional Conference which hosted 6000 delegates.

Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn

“So the diverse range of events is equally important, it’s not just about our business events.

“We are really focused on driving a sustainable tourism ecosystem and driving visitation midweek for our destination is really important, so having a convention centre that’s that popular is fantastic.

“We would welcome any development that opens up opportunities to attract more events and anything that would bring more business events to city that would contribute positively the visitor economy.”

The business community has long called for an upgraded convention centre capable of hosting more events.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre reached capacity several years ago. Picture: Supplied by GCCEC

Events kingpin Harvey Lister last year announced plans to revive a $700m proposal to redevelop the complex.

Mr Lister first pitched his plan to redevelop the Gold Coast Convention Centre into a 12,000 seat stadium and events precinct in 2021, but received little support at the time.

But Mr Lister, who runs the Australian wing of AEG Global, the world’s largest manager of big stadiums and arenas, said in October 2024 a significant upgrade was needed urgently to prevent the city losing out on events to other cities.

Convention centre general manager Nick Jeffery said expanded facilities would “only benefit” the economy.

“The centre has been at capacity for 10 years now and we know, through research, that business events bring so much to the city and those delegates tend to spend much more than leisure tourists,” he said.

“We fill the (hotel) rooms on the weekdays while the leisure visitors fill them on the weekends.”

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