Tourism Opportunity Plan - Tourism Queensland

3 Our Vision
Surfers
Paradise Foreshore
To the holiday maker, the famous Gold Coast experience represents
Australia at its best. The collective voice of more than 11 million
visitors each year is a clear indication of the region’s ability to
continually offer up new and innovative things to see and do all year
long.
3.1 The Region
In considering the vision for the Gold Coast and Hinterland the
below key attributes are critical to the success of the Gold Coast
destination and future tourism development projects:
Such strength lies in the natural and manmade diversity of a
destination which is scenic and peaceful as much as it is fast paced
and active.
As defined in the Gold Coast Destination Tourism Strategy (GCDTS):
Australia’s Gold Coast is a world class leisure and
business travel destination. For generations the Gold
Coast has been celebrated as Australia’s favourite
holiday playground and today it is also popular with
the business events travel sector who equally value
the destination’s diverse natural environment and its
unrivalled variety of built attractions. The Gold Coast
experience is characterised by its beach culture, active
lifestyle, entertainment options, nature based assets
and themed attractions. The Gold Coast is a welcoming
international tourist destination, attracting more than 11
million leisure and business visitors each year.
The vision in the Gold Coast and Hinterland Destination Tourism
Strategy is for the region to be:
Globally recognised as a world-class leisure and
business events destination famous for its unrivalled
variety of entertainment, excitement and fun.
As per the DTS, for the Gold Coast and Hinterland to achieve its
aspiration for 2020 it is critical that there is:
A co-ordinated approach to destination promotion and
marketing
Innovative product and infrastructure development across the
region that delivers on the marketing promise; and
A tourism industry that is operating at the highest standards
of service, safety and sustainability through effective industry
development programs.
A variety of quality beaches;
Warm and sunny weather;
Good range of accommodation;
Presence of internationally recognised hotel brands;
Availability of internationally recognised adventure experiences;
Strong national and international reputation as a leisure holiday
destination;
A burgeoning reputation as an important business events
destination;
Activities which cater to a variety of visitor demographics and
niche markets;
Non-adventure experiences e.g. art or sport; and
World Heritage Rainforest.
3.2 How has tourism in the region changed?
Since the inception of the Gold Coast and Hinterland Tourism
Opportunity Plan (TOP) in 2008, the tourism environment on the
Gold Coast has changed:
The Global Financial Crisis has resulted in declines in visitation
from a number of source countries, with these global issues
being exacerbated by the 2011 natural disasters in New
Zealand and Japan (the Gold Coast’s largest and third largest
international source markets respectively).
The Chinese visitor market to the Gold Coast has grown by 20%
since 2008, supported by an increase in airline services from
China to South East Queensland.*
New infrastructure, including the development of three new five
star accommodation offerings has provided the region with a
wider range of tourism offerings.
Domestic visitation to the Gold Coast has been subdued due
largely to the strength of the Australian dollar driving demand
for outbound travel.*
3 Our Vision
*Data sources: National & International Visitor Surveys, Tourism Research Australia.
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