Gold Coast continues to shine for international visitors
The Gold Coast’s booming tourism industry welcomed news that international visitor expenditure in the city was up by 15.4% in the twelve months to March 2016, rounding off a hugely successful period for the city, with growth expected to continue.
Gold Coast Tourism CEO, Martin Winter explained the significance of this growth. “The Gold Coast is riding another wave of international tourism success with a 15.4% increase in visitor expenditure to $1.2 billion.”
“Our industry is really punching above its weight, with the 11% growth in international visitors to the Gold Coast outstripping that of Queensland (+10%) and Australia (+9%).
“We expect this growth to continue, particularly given the hugely successful 2016 Australian Tourism Exchange held recently on the Gold Coast, during which the global travel distribution network and international media developed critical business ties and experienced the very best our city has to offer,” he said.
“Visitors from China were up by a significant 32% in the year ending March 2016, supported by direct access from Central China and via Hong Kong,” Martin said. “Without doubt, China remains the dominant player for the Gold Coast and now accounts for 28% of total international visitors to the Gold Coast, up from 24% in the twelve months prior.
“We are also encouraged by the return of the Japanese market, with visitors up 15% to 56,000, due in part to the successful introduction of Qantas’ new direct service from Tokyo (Narita) to Brisbane in August 2015,” Martin said.
In the year ending March 2016, the Gold Coast also recorded double-digit growth from the USA (+19% to 35,000), Taiwan (+77% to 29,000) and Hong Kong (+40% to 28,000).
The international education market also increased by 22% to 22,000 visitors in the year ending March 2016 with the sector accounting for 21.5% of total international visitor nights on the Gold Coast. “This data confirms the significance of the education sector for the Gold Coast and its sizeable contribution to international visitor nights and its contribution to the local economy,” Study Gold Coast CEO, Shannon Willoughby reported.
“The double-digit growth is testament to the renewed push by Study Gold Coast in partnership with the local government and the education sector and our close working relationship with Gold Coast Tourism, to promote the city as a world-class education destination,” Shannon said.
“There’s immense interest from China in the Gold Coast as an education destination,” Shannon added, with Study Gold Coast’s online campaign targeting the burgeoning Chinese international education market having generated 46 million page impressions over the Christmas period.
AccomNews is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.
