Gold Coast cashes in on tourism surge for Quiksilver Pro and Bleach* festival
BUSINESS is barrelling on the southern Gold Coast as events such as the Quiksilver Pro and Bleach* festival help keep a bumper Christmas-New year season rolling through to this year’s early Easter.
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BUSINESS is barrelling on the southern Gold Coast as events such as the Quiksilver Pro and Bleach festival help keep a bumper Christmas-New year season rolling through to this year’s early Easter.
Tourism and Events Queensland expects more than 25,000 people to visit the Gold Coast during the two-week Quiksilver Pro, injecting millions of dollars into the local economy.
Kirra Surf Apartments managers Alison and Rob Johnson said their complex was at capacity for this year’s Quiksilver Pro.
Mr Johnson said the low Aussie dollar, combined with fantastic weather, the Quiksilver Pro and the Surf Life Saving Queensland junior titles, had created a perfect storm in the lead-up to Easter.
“A lot of this also has to do with Easter being in March,” he said.
“The drive market has also increased, I think, because of instability overseas.
“We have about 14 check-outs this morning but just as many bookings to fill back up for the weekend.”
Connecting Southern Gold Coast CEO Peter Doggett said accommodation bookings were up 10 to 12 per cent so far this year, compared to the same period last year.
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“I couldn’t answer the exact reason why but a combination of things is helping,” he said.
“The accommodation sector has been strong since Christmas. Occupancy has been up across the board in the past couple of months — up to 10 to 12 per cent.”
Mr Doggett said events such as Cooly Rocks On, the Quiksilver Pro and Bleach combined with a great response to the reinvigorated Marine Pde precinct had helped lure more visitors to the area in the past two years.
“The signs are all pretty good,” he said.
“There’s a lot of confidence about events and new activity.
“We’ve had great feedback to The Strand (formerly Showcase on the Beach).
“It’s really been a catalyst to bring more people down to the southern end of the Coast.
“The shopping centre and restaurants in there are doing good trade and definitely attracting more people.”
Mr Doggett said the declaration of the southern Gold Coast as the eighth World Surfing Reserve would also help attract more visitors to the area.
“The southern Gold Coast is the home of more world champs than you can write home about,” he said.
“The international level of interest is strong.”
Points North Apartments at Marine Parade and Coolangatta manager Trudy Campbell said tourism in the area had been booming since Christmas.
“Occupancy rates have been up — Coolangatta has just taken off,” Ms Campbell said.
“To be honest, I’m not sure why but I think there are a lot more Aussies staying here.
“We’re so close to the airport, so it’s really easy to catch a cab down here.
“We only have one room available at the moment.”
Kommune Hostel duty manager Andre Clotagatide said the building had been at 100 per cent capacity since the start of the week — even before the Quiksilver Pro kicked off.
“We fill up with a lot of late bookings,” Mr Clotagatide said.
“At about 4 or 5pm we have been filling up every night.”
Mr Doggett said a strategic marketing push on Youtube and Instagram had helped fuel increasing visitation in the south.
“It’s a slow process — it doesn’t happen overnight — but the imagery we are putting out there is showing people do like the destination,” he said.
Mr Doggett said a host of “really quirky coffee shops” had also boosted the area’s appeal.
World No 1 Adriano De Souza, from Brazil, who has spent the past month on the Gold Coast in the lead-up to the tour-opening event, cites Little Lido in Coolangatta as his favourite local coffee shop.
Women’s World No. 1 Carissa Moore, from Hawaii, cites Café D-Bar as her favourite coffee shop.
US world No. 2 Courtney Conlogue is a fan of Black sheep Expresso Baa, Little Mali and Kirra Beach Bakery, while local six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore loves the Quiksilver Boardriders Coffee Shop in Coolangatta.
Wildcard entrant wants a spot on the championship tour
MIKEY Wright’s mullet is as exciting as his surfing and his bright green drift car.
The tattooed new Gold Coaster is this year’s Quiksilver Pro wildcard and said he planned to join his older siblings, Tyler and Owen, on the championship tour.
“That’s my main goal — I’m going to use this year to try and qualify for the world tour,” the 19-year-old said.
Besides his “unrefined rock star” style of surfing, he said the haircut he has cultivated for more than two years was a conversation piece.
“The funniest one was having a cop in America go up to me, like out of his way, to go, ‘Oh, your mullet is sick’,” Wright said.
“He was like ‘Mate, you’ve got a sick mullet’.
“I make it different every time I do it,” he said.
After extensively travelling to film surf clips, Wright said he moved to Tugun to live with heavy metal-loving and tattooed former tour surfer Matt Hoy and train with former tour surfer, Troy Brooks.
“It’s good living with Hoyo and training with Troy Brooks because they were on tour,” he said.
“Going from free surfing to competition has been really tough but Troy Brooks has been making it easier.”
He said his main goal was to use the points earned from his wildcard to get a spot on the world tour.
“I’m pretty excited to surf against the tour guys — show them what I’ve got,” he said.
“I always had the plan to focus on competitions but I just wanted to take my time off and become a better surfer and learn big power turns and get better in the barrel.”
He said his main worry with older brother Owen’s recovery from a severe head injury was that he couldn’t surf against him.
“I’m just spewing I can’t surf against him,” he said.
Originally from Culburra in NSW, Wright said he moved to the Gold Coast for the waves and his drift car which he still can’t legally drive on the road.
“It’s a Nissan Silvia — I’ve got a big twin turbo on it that kicks out about 475 horsepower.
“I really like cars.
“Now living up here I’ve got a 4WD from Hinterland Toyota which is sick because I actually can’t drive the Nissan on the road because I am still on my P-plates, so I have to put it on a trailer.
“I’m looking forward to living up here now so I can go and do that.”
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