MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 15 January, 2009
HOT GOLD COAST BOOKINGS MAKE TOURISTS AND TRADERS HAPPY
Australia’s Gold Coast has reported a better than expected summer holiday season despite the
toughest global economic environment in many years.
Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said feedback from some of its 550 member businesses
indicated that trade for December and January was actually up on last year.
“There are some very positive results for Gold Coast businesses this summer, as efforts by the
industry to stimulate December and January travel have really paid off,’ he said.
“Gold Coast businesses have actively pursued online and last minute bookings with great success,
many hotels and resorts have told us this has been the trend for the season with short lead and
short break visitors really topping up the traditional long break family holiday visitor numbers.”
Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove General Manager Patrick Hardy said bookings started off slowly for
what is usually a very busy period.
“Traditionally this period is heavily booked by mid November however customers were holding off
and shopping around for the best offer. But we have achieved a late rush with locals and last
minute bookings contributing significantly to our business over summer,” he said.
Local businesses have been buoyed by the surge in visitors to the Gold Coast this summer after
enduring a very challenging year.
Sofitel Gold Coast General Manager Mark Wilkinson said, “The prime occupancy period of
Christmas and New Year for Sofitel Broadbeach exceeded that of the previous year and we also
saw an increase in the average spend of our guests.”
Pacific Fair Shopping Centre Marketing Manager Jennifer Cook said, “December 2008 customer
traffic was up 1.4 per cent on last year, particularly in the second half of December, with last minute
Christmas shopping and post Christmas sales attracting good numbers.”
Surfers Paradise Alliance CEO Rowena Howe said, “The Surfers Paradise New Years Eve
celebrations were the biggest ever, with official Queensland Police Service estimates putting crowd
numbers at 100,000 this year compared to 65,000 last year.”
Jetstar General Manager Corporate Relations Simon Westaway said, “The Gold Coast remains
one of our most popular destinations for interstate holidaymakers with our flights performing very
well. Our flights from Tokyo and Osaka have been more than meeting expectations and we’ll be
growing our services from Tokyo* to a daily from the end of March. We have even announced new
flights from Auckland commencing in April 2009*.”
Mr Winter was pleased with the city’s success during the critical peak tourist season, but cautious
about the year ahead.
“It is important that we acknowledge this success, it means a great deal for the small, medium and
large operators on the Gold Coast that we have stimulated visitors to our city in a very tough
environment at a critical time of year,” he said.
“However, there is no doubt this will be a most challenging year for Australia’s tourism industry and
the Gold Coast is not immune, we will need to continue the great work in marketing, investment,
development and servicing if we are to remain Australia’s number one holiday destination,” he said.
*Subject to regulatory approval.
ENDS.
For comment please contact:
Gold Coast Tourism Director Communications, Ben Pole
0437 343 104 or ben.pole@gctourism.com
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