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$94 Million International Boost For Gold Coast Tourism Industry
| 9 December 2009
International visitors to the Gold Coast spent over $1.042 billion in the 12 months from September 2008 to September 2009, that was $94 million more than in the previous 12 months according to figures released today by Tourism Research Australia.
The 9.9% increase in international visitor spend means the tourism capital outperformed its main competitors of Brisbane, Sydney and Tropical North Queensland in terms of its key measurement, dollar growth.
Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said the Gold Coast also significantly outperformed the state and national averages for International Visitors and International Visitor Spend and managed to increase its share of visitors to Queensland.
“There is no overlooking the fact it has been a difficult 12 months for tourism, but for the Gold Coast to increase its marketshare in such a competitive environment is a very positive result.” he said.
“We have bucked the state and national trends and positioned ourselves well for what appears to be the beginning of a turn around in international travel after the recent impacts of the H1N1 Virus and the Global Financial Crisis.”
International Visitors, Spend and Nights on the Gold Coast
• International Visitors = 794,571 (down 2.8%)
• International Visitor Spend = $1.042 billion (up 9.9%)
International Visitors and Spend in Queensland
• International Visitors = 1,981,961 (down 5.5%)
• International Visitor Spend = $3.982 billion (up 1.6%)
International Visitors and Spend in Australia
• International Visitors = 5,098,013 (down 2.0%)
• International Visitor Spend = $17.141 billion (up 3.6%)
Top Three International Source Markets by Visitor Number
• New Zealand Visitors = 202,316 (down 4.2%)
• Japan Visitors = 113,324 (down 2.4%)
• China Visitors 96,792 (down 5.9%)
Best Performing International Source Markets by Visitor Growth
• USA Visitors = 33,553 (up 34.7%)
• Taiwan Visitors = 23,795 (up 29.4%)
• United Kingdom Visitors = 71,926 (up 7.1%)
Source: Tourism Research Australia – International Visitor Survey, Year Ending September, 2009. Note: Tourism Research Australia – National Visitor Survey will be released Wednesday 16th December 2009, it will outline visitation from Australians.
ENDS.
For further comment please contact:
Gold Coast Tourism Manager Media Development, John Kaarsberg
0411 511 029 or john.kaarsberg@gctourism.com