.gif)
Gold Coast no longer in Australia’s top five for domestic travel
The Gold Coast’s beaches and theme parks are no longer the tourist magnets they once were, with the Glitter Strip slipping out of the country’s top five places to visit.
The Glitter Strip is losing its lustre with domestic tourists.
The latest snapshot of domestic travel in Australia has revealed Perth and the NSW south coast now command a greater share of tourists than the Gold Coast, which has slipped to seventh on the list of top 20 regions for holiday visits.
While the rest of the country enjoyed a surge in domestic tourism, the Gold Coast suffered a 5.6 per cent plunge, with 200,000 fewer Aussies visiting the region in the year to March.
As a result, trip expenditure was down almost $200 million, dropping from $3.195 billion to $2.921 billion.
The Gold Coast’s share of Queensland’s domestic travel market was now 18 per cent, down from 20 per cent a year ago, and 4.1 per cent nationally, down from 4.6 per cent.
In contrast, an additional 245,000 people travelled to the Sunshine Coast (up 9.2 per cent) and statewide, domestic tourism activity was up 5.1 per cent.
Nationally, domestic travellers spent $55.7 billion in the 12 months to March, up $3.4 billion on the previous year.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones, also responsible for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, said the statewide figures were encouraging but it was clear the tourism industry had suffered in recent years.
“This data demonstrates that more work needs to be done to grow Queensland’s share of domestic holiday travel,” Ms Jones said.
“The former LNP government’s budget figures showed they had cut the tourism budget in half.
‘‘Today’s data confirms now is not the time to cut tourism funding.”
More than 200,000 jobs were supported by the tourism industry, Ms Jones said.
Sunshine Coast Destination boss Simon Ambrose said the area was reaping the rewards of extensive marketing campaigns.
“We are now rolling out a campaign aimed directly at the important drive market, which, with lower fuel prices and new product such as the Great Beach Drive, is likely to increase visitation further,” Mr Ambrose said.
“The domestic (news) is well-timed as it is being complemented by the rise of the ‘holidaying at home’ trend which has resulted from the softer Australian dollar.”
A spokesman for Tourism Research Australia, which compiled the National Visitor Survey, said the continuing lower value of the Australian dollar was likely to encourage greater domestic holiday numbers, as overseas travel became more expensive.
“The Australian dollar has averaged over US96¢ since 2010, and is currently trading at US77¢,” the spokesman said.
“In 2011 the Australian dollar was as high as $US1.11.”
Source: The Courier Mail Brisbane, Robyn Ironside, July 2nd 2015
