Gold Coast losing hundreds of millions due to decline in international tourism

Figures have revealed just how much weak international tourism is costing the Gold Coast amid concern about a loss of routes at the city’s airport. SEE THE FIGURES

Federal government research shows the Gold Coast is one of the biggest losers in Australia from the downturn in international tourism.

Figures from Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey show the city generated $1.131 billion in expenditure from international visitors in the 12 months to the end of March.

That was down $228 million on pre-pandemic figures recorded at the same time five years ago – a 16.7 per cent decline.

Only Melbourne fared worse in dollar terms, with international visitor expenditure in the Victorian capital down $727 million – a nine per cent drop on its 2019 figure.

The Gold Coast also fared badly in terms of international visitor trips recorded, down 36 per cent from more than a million to 651,000.

The figures did indicate that the international tourists who made it here were staying longer, with visitor nights only dipping 15 per cent from 9.74 million to 8.27 million. However that was still enough however to see the Gold Coast fall behind fast-growing Adelaide in Tourism Research Australia’s league table of most popular destinations for international travellers.

The figures also compared poorly with Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. International visitor expenditure is up strongly in both cities, with the Sunshine Coast leading the nation in terms of growth, with an almost 34 per cent rise.

The revelations come in the wake of a Bulletin report showing a sharp decline in the number of international travellers passing through Gold Coast Airport following the loss of connections outside Australia and New Zealand.

Commenting for that report, Experience Gold Coast head of visitor economy and corporate relations Rachel Hancock said the loss of international connections “of course has an impact’.

However the city was a “highly desired international destination” and Experience Gold Coast was confident international visitor numbers would continue to recover.

“Growing international visitation is one of Experience Gold Coast’s key priorities. Through the use of targeted international marketing campaigns, we are constantly promoting the Gold Coast in partnership with Tourism Australia, Tourism Event Queensland and our international airline and travel agency partners,” she said.

In contrast to the loss of routes at the Gold Coast there were 10 international airline route launches at Brisbane Airport in the last financial year, including Jetstar flights to Tokyo moved from Coolangatta.

There are now 29 direct international destinations flown to from Brisbane, compared to 33 pre-pandemic, with five further routes expected to launch shortly.

Those routes contributed to an almost 40 per cent rise in international passenger numbers at Brisbane Airport last year, compared to a five per cent rise at the Gold Coast.

A Virgin Australia flight passes aerobridges at Gold Coast airport. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner said he was confident the Gold Coast’s market would recover in the long term.

“Brisbane is going to keep attracting the flights first and once this demand has been reasonably met, they will look at other airports,” he said.

“It’s only natural that it will happen for Brisbane first and the Gold Coast second but I have no doubt they will come back.”

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