The Chinese market was the biggest sector for the city - even outstripping neighbours New Zealand - pre-Covid but essentially shut down in early 2020 and never bounced back.

Experience Gold Coast boss John Warn and his team will travel to China to try and sell the city back to the country’s five biggest centres.

Mr Warn said it was critical to revive the relationship with China.

“We are focused on many countries, Japan is very important and China too,” he said.

“There’s a trade mission to China in three weeks’ time and it is very important market to us.

“We are focused on connecting cross the five major cities in China so they are very clear that the Gold Coast is a great place to come.

“Part of setting up Experience Gold Coast was to empower this entity to focus on driving the visitor economy in a strategic fashion.”

China rapidly overtook other nations to become the cornerstone of the Gold Coast’s tourism sector through the 2010s, sparking a wave of development and property investment.

More than 275,000 visitors from China travelled to the city in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, a number which plummeted by more than 90 per cent in early 2020 when the coronavirus began rapidly spreading around the globe.

At the time the Gold Coast’s top five international markets were China, New Zealand at 210,000, Japan at 70,000, the United Kingdom and the United States at a record 45,000.

Beyond tourism, China was also the Gold Coast’s biggest market for international students at the city’s universities.

While no councillors will take part in the trade mission, Mayor Tom Tate said re-establishing the city’s connection with China was critical for the future.

“China has long been an important market for our city, not just from a tourism perspective but also from the social and business connections we enjoy between our city and mainland China. More than 9000 Chinese call our city home,” he said.

“My mayoral trade missions to China over the last decade have ensured the necessary business and commerce connections remain strong.

“Our sister City relationships with Chengdu, Beihai and Zhuhai open an important gateway for future visitors as well as investment.

“That is why council has approved Experience Gold Coast targeting China for an uplift of visitor numbers to our city.

“We are nowhere near back to the pre-Covid visitor numbers but I am confident we can keep the dialogue going as we look to secure more airline routes between the two countries.”

A Gold Coast city leader has said encouraging its own domestic tourism has been China’s focus as a nation in recent times - and that makes it a much more difficult prospect for outbound tourism back to the Gold Coast and Australia than it was pre-Covid.

A Bulletin report in August showed a sharp decline in international visitors passing through Gold Coast Airport, highlighting the loss of direct international connections outside Australia and New Zealand.

Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey shows the city generated $1.131 billion in expenditure from internationals in 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 2019.

NEXT STEP FOR AIRPORT MASTERPLAN

The Gold Coast’s Airport’s draft masterplan - catering for a future light rail connection - is set to be approved by Christmas.

Fresh from the $3bn sale of the airport and its sister terminals in Townsville, Mt Isa and Longreach last week, Queensland Airports CEO Amelia Evans said they were awaiting the Federal Minister’s tick-off before work could begin on the project. It will see a light rail link to the terminal, an expanded hotel and giant retail zone built in the next 20 years.

“We have the light rail earmarked in our masterplan and we support that connectivity with the airport because we need to be connected to the rest of the city and are looking forward to an announcement from the government once the election is over,” she said.

“We are excited to work with our new investors.

“The masterplan is awaiting approval by the government and we are hoping it will be before Christmas,” she said.

“It’s a 20-year document so the next step will be acting in it, in particular the infrastructure upgrades so we will proceed on that basis.

The masterplan, released in March, shows how the Bilinga site will be transformed by the 2032 Olympics, with the masterplan revealing both the short and long-term plans for the airport, which welcomes 6.5 million passengers each year.

A heavy rail station integrated with the light rail is in the long-term plan, which it’s hoped will be delivered by the mid-2040s.

Under the masterplan, airport bosses want the 2032 precinct to include:

•A taxiway upgrade;

•An expansion of the existing terminal;

•A new terminal forecourt and arrivals experience;

•Planned Gold Coast Airport Light Rail Station;

•Relocated public bus stop facilities;

•A multi-deck car park and transport hub;

•Airport hotel expansion, with new office development and ‘Airport Village’ food and retail offerings;

•An expansion of Southern Cross University; and

•Travel Centre development, including electric vehicle charging station.

KIWI VISITORS CONTINUE TO DELIVER

Kiwis are cashing it on the Gold Coast, new data reveals

The city’s biggest overseas market is powering the economy, with the data released by Tourism Research Australia showing New Zealanders poured $210m into the economy in the June quarter, with 124,000 trips to the state of Queensland in the same three-month period.

According to the data, trans-Tasman visitors are staying longer and spending more than they were pre-Covid.

They spent 1.3m visitor nights in Queensland in the June quarter, 115 per cent of pre-2020 levels.

Federal Tourism Minister Don Farrell visited Rotorua last week to have talks with his Kiwi counterpart.

“Boosting tourism, promoting more flights and creating a more seamless experience for travellers were all topics I discussed with New Zealand’s Tourism Minister in Rotorua last week as a part of our annual dialogue,” he said.

“New Zealand is one of our closest and oldest friends. We share a lot of links – the region, our love of sport and rugby, and people-to-people links.

“Australians are New Zealand’s biggest source of visitors, and vice-versa.

“Queensland has some of the greatest experiences in the world, and it’s great to see more and more Kiwis coming across to experience the iconic Gold Coast beaches, theme parks, shopping, food and lifestyle.”