Gold Coast City Council election 2024: Plans for water sports and expanded theatre to boost tourism
The Gold Coast will become home to the biggest water sports and para-athlete competitions and be the envy of capital cities, under a proposal to inject an extra $400m into the economy.
Council Election
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The Gold Coast will become home to the biggest water sports and para-athlete competitions and be the envy of capital cities, under a proposal of Mayor Tom Tate’s.
Mr Tate is ramping up his vision for more events and particularly sports tourism - worth $600m to the economy - as he pushes for a boutique stadium, arguing the city could dramatically boost $600m to more than $1bn
The initial focus will be securing water-based events before moving to poach top-tier events from capital cities.
“Great cities maximise their advantage over other destinations and we have incredible water ways and ocean beaches. No other destination in the southern hemisphere can match us,” he said.
“I’m announcing a plan to secure several top-tier water sports including power boat racing, wakeboarding, surfing, kite surfing and ocean ironman events. I also plan bringing the world’s best para-sport action.
”I want to hit $1bn in the next four years but to do that, we need a marquee event every month and we need to keep supporting the 600 local events which happen every year.”
Mr Tate said if re-elected he would work with Experience GC to “supercharge the events economy”.
“It’s a two-pronged approach. We need to get a boutique stadium built (10,000-12,000 seat capacity), and we need to secure another four top-tier events for the annual calendar.
“I want families in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Adelaide to look at what events we have and jump on a flight (or cars) and visit.”
Mr Tate said he would fast-track Home of the Arts (HOTA) expansion at Bundall to build an expanded 1600-seat theatre, arguing the city needed to “evolve as an arts-cultural destination of choice”.
“I will advocate directly with the state and federal governments for arts funding to complete this stage of HOTA,” he said.
“The state has already budgeted to assist with design costs so I’m optimistic we can secure further financial support once the design is complete.
“There is never a cheaper time to build this infrastructure than today,” he said. “I want the theatre project to be shovel ready with funding secured inside 18 months.
“When complete, I want Phantom of the Opera to perform as the first production.”
The city’s $7bn tourism industry has bounced back from a long Covid downturn after strong domestic visitation.
New National Visitor Survey and International Visitor Survey figures from Tourism Research Australia before Christmas showed the Gold Coast’s pandemic bounce is gaining momentum, with the city breaking nine previous benchmarks in the 12 months to September 2023.
There have long been calls for a tourism and events masterplan to ensure big-ticket visitor magnets are not held at the same time.
Frustration with the events calendar grew in recent years, particularly after October 2022’s GC500 weekend, which ran simultaneously with Halloween - a boon on its own for hospitality - and the Groundwater Country Music Festival.
It was in part due to some events being rescheduled but was not the first time it had occurred.
Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn in February talked up a need for greater co-ordination between governments to deliver key tourism infrastructure and outcomes.
“With a local and state election on the horizon, we need to ensure all governments are working together so we capitalise on the significant opportunities ahead for Australia’s fastest growing regional city, especially in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he said.
“Transport infrastructure, aviation attraction, demand-driving major events, affordable housing and continued investment into arts and culture are critical priorities.
“There is a real opportunity in unlocking new services through aviation hubs that would allow travel into the Gold Coast from other parts of Asia, India, and Europe.”
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