Gold Coast Tourism: Secrets to city’s future success revealed

The Gold Coast’s economy is bouncing back from Covid but tourism leaders have revealed what the city really needs to succeed. And it’s not what you’d expect. FIND OUT WHY

The Gold Coast’s new Airport boss wants to secure direct flights to the Middle East and lure major international airlines in a bid to supercharge the city for the next decade.

New Queensland Airports CEO Amelia Evans is flying high five months into her role, with domestic tourism numbers exceeding pre-Covid numbers and the opening of the Gold Coast’s new $500 million terminal.

Ms Evans, who replaced long-time chief executive officer Chris Mills in July, said she has great ambitions to restore the Gold Coast’s pre-Covid international travel routes and then expand far beyond them.

“International visitor numbers are still lagging and we are currently sitting at 68-70 per cent of pre-Covid capacity,” she said.

Gold Coast airport CEO Amelia Evans,

“Securing premier carriers is an ambition for us and while we already have Air New Zealand and Scoot, we need to get carriers like Singapore Airlines and a Japan service to come to the Gold Coast because we are a changing and evolving place.

“They do not come quickly but we are working hard on it and they would bring a greater diversity of tourist.”

The Gold Coast’s next new direct international route to Bali will open in early 2023, on top of existing services to New Zealand and Singapore.

Ms Evans said securing a direct route to the Middle East would give the city “a much greater reach.”

The Gold Coast’s tourism industry was worth more than $6 billion before Covid, with record international visitor numbers recorded through late 2019.

A Virgin flight using an aerobridge at Gold Coast Airport's new terminal expansion. Picture: Luke Marsden.

However, it lost more than $4bn in value across 2020 and 2021 on the back of interstate and international border closures.

While the international tourism recovery has occurred slowly, domestic visitor numbers to the city have bounced back quickly.

Further serious outbreaks and border closures kept the industry largely on ice in 2021 before staging a major recovery this year, once international borders reopened and the city won a share of a $200m fighting fund following a campaign by the Bulletin.

Ms Evans said the funds proved useful in re-establishing some routes lost during the pandemic.

“The funds have been useful in the negotiations with the airlines but we will also be using them to attract new flights to the Gold Coast, which will stimulate demand,” she said.

“Before Covid we had Korean and Malaysian flights and those will be the first cabs off the rank because these are emerging markets.

“These are great markets for us because their visitors come in, spend and contribute to the economy.

“Asia is our focus because we are close to them and need to invest time in it.”

Chief Operating Officer Village Roadshow Theme Parks, Bikash Randhawa, Picture: Jerad Williams

Village Roadshow theme parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said there were significant opportunities the city needed to invest in if it was to succeed.

“We have identified India and Singapore as the biggest opportunity for international tourism and are working closely with Destination Gold Coast and other tourism bodies on enticing this market to visit out city, including a recent trip to both countries meeting with relevant agents and tourism operators,” he said.

“To improve these visitors’ travel experience and to cement our city as a destination of choice, we would like to see direct flights from India to the Gold Coast, which will be a complete reset and rebuild into a market which is untapped, providing potential to over a million new visitors.

The late Shane Warne pictured playing in the IPL (Photo by Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP)

“We should also look at hosting major events like the IPL (Indian Premier League), which we know are proven in driving visitors from the subcontinent and given we know their spending habits the benefit to the city and state would be enormous.”

While the return of international visitors has been slow, many developers have been moving ahead with new tourism infrastructure including hotels in a bid to make the city more attractive to cashed-up overseas residents.

The international Mondrian Hotel twin towers is under construction at Burleigh Heads, while Star Entertainment Group is pushing ahead with its $2bn seven-tower masterplan at Broadbeach.

Star CEO Robbie Cooke said the company was keeping one eye on the future.

“Anecdotally, on top of the strong demand we have already been experiencing on the domestic holiday-maker front, the conference market is also returning with a vengeance,” he told the Bulletin this week.

“There is no reason to think those positive factors are going to drop away anytime soon and when international visitation returns strongly it will only accelerate the demand for the great tourism experiences that we and others can offer on the Gold Coast.”

Mr Cooke also backed efforts by Gold Coast City Council, state and federal governments to extend the light rail to the airport in a bid to complete the coastal spine.

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