The tourism industry is bracing for millions of visitors expected to provide the Gold Coast with the best season in a decade

ACCOMMODATION providers are bracing for one of the best Christmas holiday seasons in ten years.

ACCOMMODATION providers are bracing for one of the best Christmas holiday seasons in ten years as early figures suggest more than three million visitors will flood the city in coming months.

Fully-booked holiday parks seem to be the norm for the majority of Gold Coast operators and for those with space, bookings are expected to increase up until Christmas.

A spokeswoman for the City of Gold Coast said many of the city's tourism parks were at close to capacity but said bookings were available for holiday-makers early in the new year.

"We expect based on previous years that the parks will be mostly fully booked over the Christmas / New Year period," she said.

"The more popular family friendly parks such as Tallebudgera Creek, Broadwater and Main Beach Tourist Parks already have occupancies around 90-95% for this period.

"There is still availability at the parks for the pre-Christmas and post New Year's Eve periods and people who haven't booked for Christmas yet should be able to find availability for their preferred dates over this period."

The Gold Coast representative said most of the business for the tourist parks at this time of year came from domestic travellers and many are loyal, return visitors.

"At this time of year the majority of our bookings come from families in the 3 hour drive market i.e. Brisbane, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Tweed, Lismore and Ballina," she said.

Gold Coast Tourism spokesman Ben Pole said recent figures suggesting strong patronage over Christmas back-up claims that the Gold Coast is the best holiday destination in Australia.

"We expect more than three million visitors to holiday on the Gold Coast over summer, and with a return to classic Gold Coast weather it will be one of our best seasons in ten years," he said.

"Of course the major tourism precincts of Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, and Coolangatta attract the majority of visitors but many Australian holiday makers return to their favourite spots right across the Gold Coast.

"The great attraction of the Gold Coast is its diversity of holiday experiences, from the beaches and hinterland to the theme parks and city centre, the Gold Coast delivers an unrivalled variety of fun."

Gold Coast Holiday Park receptionist Lorraine Minear said accommodation was fully-booked at the Helensvale-based site.

"Most people have stayed last year and as they leave, book for the following year," she said.

However, Southport Tourist Park assistant manager Liz Spanos said although more bookings were expected in the lead-up to Christmas, bookings were down by about 20 per cent.

The Southport facility is currently only 50 per cent booked over the Christmas holiday period whereas by now, it would usually be booked to about 70 per cent.

The tourist park executive said she knows of cancellations due to people losing their jobs and said she thought job stability had an impact on bookings over Christmas.