Gold Coast tourism sets records & accommodation providers report 80% occupancy
Rachel Hancock: “As we lean into a new year post our peak holiday season, we are buoyed with confidence that 2024 will continue to see Gold Coast’s visitor economy strengthen on all fronts.”
New National Visitor Survey and International Visitor Survey figures released by Tourism Research Australia today for the year ending September 2023 reveal nine record-breaking results for the Gold Coast.
Experience Gold Coast Executive Director for Tourism Rachel Hancock said the strength of the result in challenging macroeconomic times showed that the Gold Coast continues to be the engine room of Australian tourism.
The latest AccomNews print issue is available now. Read it HERE
“In the twelve months to September, the Gold Coast welcomed 12.4 million domestic overnight and day trip visitors who contributed $7.1 billion to our economy,” Ms Hancock said.
“A record 4.4 million domestic overnight visitors including all-time high visitation from Brisbane and Sydney tells us that these key markets are responding well to our campaign activity in what is an exceptionally competitive travel landscape.
“At the same time, the Gold Coast continued to prove popular with 8 million day-trippers, closing in on 2019 levels.
“This year, we deployed a suite of marketing campaigns domestically to protect our core audience of travellers with kids and grow our secondary audience of travellers without kids.
“Play The Day Away celebrates everything families love about the Gold Coast while @PLAY builds our weekday economy by bringing to life all the activities and attractions that make travelling mid-week highly appealing. And we’re inspiring day-trippers through Stay & Play every week on radio calling out upcoming events and matching them to an additional experience and a prompt to stay overnight.
As global long-haul travel continued to improve so did the international visitor data which provides a snapshot of the nine months to September, with full results to be restored by March 2024. Despite this, the Gold Coast still saw 436,000 international visitors as holidays overtook visiting friends and relatives to be the top purpose for travel.
New Zealand remained Gold Coast’s largest source market with 144,000 visitors – just 6 per cent below 2019 levels – while the UK was the second largest with 36,000 visitors.
The biggest mover and third largest was Korea with 25,000 visitors – which represents a welcome 14 percent growth compared to pre-pandemic results as air access strengthened.
Ms Hancock said it comes as the Gold Coast leads the charts as the most sought-after domestic destination in Australia this summer. We expect the Gold Coast will benefit from a $1.3 billion economic injection this summer with 42 per cent the result of interstate visitors compared to a quarter from international according to AEC modelling.
“Accommodation providers are reporting that occupancy is heading through 80 percent, but we’re still encouraging last-minute holidaymakers to jump onto booking sites now.
“Our city is buzzing with a lineup of not-to-be-missed events including the Sneakers Unboxed exhibition at HOTA Gallery, Magic Millions Carnival, and National Futsal Championships before the prestigious AACTA Awards are held here for the first time ever.
“As we lean into a new year post our peak holiday season, we are buoyed with confidence that 2024 will continue to see Gold Coast’s visitor economy strengthen on all fronts.”
AccomNews is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.
