It’s a very merry Christmas for the Gold Coast, with new data revealing the city’s tourism industry is well and truly back in business.
Fresh figures out today show that when it comes to domestic travel, more people than ever are choosing to holiday in the sunshine state.
On the Gold Coast alone, there were 3.7 million domestic visitors to the glitter strip in the 12 months to September.
Those holiday-makers stayed a total of 13.6 million nights.
People weren’t afraid to open their wallets, with spending by tourists also up from $2.7 billion the previous year to a record 4.2 billion.
Rachel Hancock from Destination Gold Coast said the numbers are more than 50 per cent higher than this time last year.
“This was driven by the continuing support of 2 million Queensland overnight visitors and 1.7 million interstate visitors, including record numbers from Melbourne,” Ms Hancock said.
“The considerable increase in spend per visitor to over $1,126 per head – higher than the state and national average – is a great sign for many small businesses that make up Gold Coast’s tourism industry.”
Ms Hancock said while the international traveller market has slowed, we are seeing positive signs.
“International travel across the world continues to be impacted by a range of external factors including airline capacity, inflation, and cost of living, but we are seeing green shoots with New Zealand, the UK and US, India and Singapore that point to a gradual recovery of our overseas markets,” she said.
“With a strong summer holiday period at our doorstep, tourism on the Gold Coast continues to shine and we are buoyed with confidence that 2023 will continue to see our visitor economy strengthen on all fronts.
“We have a lot to be excited for in the year ahead including the launch of a multi-million-dollar campaign to broaden our audience reach, landing more international connections and strengthening the weekday economy.”
Across the whole state, domestic visitors injected a whopping $24.5 billion into the economy, with Queensland declared the number one holiday destination in the country.
New South Wales came in second, with Victoria a significant 43 per cent behind in third place.
