Tourism Opportunity Plan - Tourism Queensland

1 Context
Gold Coast Dining, Marina Mirage
1.1 Purpose – What is a Tourism
Opportunity Plan?
The Purpose of the Gold Coast and Hinterland Tourism Opportunity
Plan (TOP) is to provide direction for the sustainable development of
tourism in the Gold Coast region.
This document is an update of the Gold Coast and Hinterland
Tourism Opportunity Plan 2009 – 2018 reflecting that since the
inception of this document in 2008, the tourism environment on the
Gold Coast has changed.
The projects and opportunities identified in the 2008 TOP were
determined in a very different tourism environment. The purpose
of updating the Gold Coast TOP is to refocus the direction for the
sustainable development of tourism in the region to 2020.
Since the original Gold Coast TOP was developed in 2008, a
number of key deliverables for the project have also been met, while
others need to be reviewed and prioritised. It is anticipated that
this updated document will provide a renewed and reinvigorated
direction for the sustainable development of tourism in the Gold
Coast region.
The Gold Coast and Hinterland TOP update will:
Re-prioritise the identification of new and upgraded tourism
product that meets visitor expectations and demands;
Re-prioritise the need for new investment in infrastructure that
supports the ongoing development of tourism;
Re-prioritise relevant research based information on tourism
supply and demand;
Provide a renewed focus and reinvigorate engagement with the
tourism industry, infrastructure providers and private investors;
and support the vision of the Gold Coast as outlined in the Gold
Coast Destination Tourism Strategy.
1.2 Current Tourism Environment
The Queensland Government held the inaugural DestinationQ
forum in Cairns on 25 and 26 June 2012. The forum provided an
opportunity for more than 300 tourism industry representatives to
contribute to the policy direction of the Queensland Government.
The forum culminated in the development of a Partnership
Agreement between industry and government. A key element of the
Partnership Agreement included the recognition that both industry
and government must work together cooperatively, and contribute
jointly, to achieving the Tourism 2020 goals. This principle will
also apply to the projects outlined in this TOP. This will require that
industry, and federal, state and local governments all play a role in
delivering these projects.
The Gold Coast TOP is an adjunct to the Gold Coast Destination
Tourism Strategy, which was released in 2012 and provides the
framework to guide tourism industry development in the Gold Coast
by coordinating stakeholders in a common direction to maximise
the tourism potential of the destination. The TOP’s role as part of
this framework is to act as a guide to government, industry and
stakeholders as to projects and action steps the industry believes
are required, for the most effective impacts on tourism.
In addition to stakeholder feedback since the release of the original
TOP in 2008, the updated TOP is based on extensive research
as well as consultation with a range of regional and external
stakeholders including government agencies, tourism industry,
external tourism stakeholders, developers and investors.
The updated Gold Coast TOP does not assert to canvass all possible
projects for the region but instead makes recommendations based
on the catalyst projects identified in the original plan and which fulfil
the destination objectives, have strong stakeholder support and
are likely to assist in realising the destination’s long term vision for
sustainable tourism.
The TOP does not imply endorsement by local, state or federal
governments, nor does it imply funding commitments. The TOP
is a list of the key catalyst projects developed by industry with the
assistance of government, to guide the planning and development
of projects that offer the tourism industry the best available
opportunities for growth.
For the purposes of this project, the Gold Coast region is defined by
the Gold Coast City Council boundaries which includes 47 Statistical
Local Areas (SLAs) extending from Beenleigh in the North,
Coolangatta in the South and Lower Beechmont and Springbrook in
the West. The Gold Coast contains a number of nodes or precincts
of tourism activity or high levels of visitation.
1 Context
1