GOLD COAST STILL A FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION FOR AUSTRALIANS

More Queenslanders choosing to holiday at home are helping the Gold Coast keep its title as Australia’s premier holiday destination, says Tourism Minister Margaret Keech.

Mrs Keech said the National Visitor Survey results released today showed the number of people visiting the Coast specifically for a holiday increased by seven per cent in the past year.

This was driven by a 5.9 per cent increase in the number of Queenslanders choosing to holiday on the Gold Coast, she said.

“It is particularly encouraging to see such a strong increase in Queensland residents choosing to holiday locally," Mrs Keech said.

“Queenslanders visiting the Gold Coast increased by almost six per cent for the year to March 2007, spending in total 5.2 per cent more visitor nights.”

Mrs Keech said domestic overnight visitors spent more than $2.8 billion on the Gold Coast for same period.

“The region saw more than 3.5 million domestic overnight visitors spend in excess of 15.2 million nights on the Gold Coast last year,” she said.

“Sydney again proved to be one of the region’s key interstate markets, attracting more than 543,000 holidaymakers.

“Significantly, the $2.8 billion (including airfares and long distance transport costs) in expenditure generated by domestic tourism in the region makes the Gold Coast the third largest tourism expenditure region in Australia.”

Mrs Keech said Tourism Queensland, in partnership with Gold Coast Tourism, had invested heavily in marketing activity in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

“Most recently, the Gold Coast and Tourism Queensland had a significant presence in Melbourne taking over the very busy Flinders Street Station with a Gold Coast theme,” she said.

“This was supported by investment in phase two of the Very GC television commercial and online campaign.”

Gold Coast Tourism CEO, Pavan Bhatia, said the region’s tourism industry continued to grow thanks to strong local partnerships and marketing activities.

“The Gold Coast has traditionally been one of Australia’s favorite leisure holiday experiences,” Mr Bhatia said.

“By partnering with state and local governments as well as industry, we are working to develop the quality and quantity of our local tourism offerings while increasing exposure through strategic marketing campaigns such as the recent GCBazaar.”

Media Contact: Jo Gibbons 3225 1005 / 0439 761 416