A three-phased tourism campaign is set to drive visitors back to the Gold Coast and entice the nation to show their love for the city following the devastating impact of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Launching today, it will feature a nation-wide media campaign, followed by discounted flights and accommodation and a voucher “spend and get’’ reward program to continue to drive the visitor economy in the lead up to the Easter and April school holidays.
The Experience Gold Coast initiative is part of a statewide broader strategy to support the region’s tourism recovery and reinforce the message that the Gold Coast is back to business and ready to welcome visitors.
“This campaign is about reminding people why we all love the Gold Coast and that we are open for business,’’ Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said.
“The City of Gold Coast is proud to support this campaign, and we commend the State Government for also showing they are right behind our beautiful city.
“There is no doubt our city will bounce back, and our iconic beaches will return to their former glory ready to welcome the millions of holidaymakers who choose our destination each year.”
Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn said supporting our visitor economy is a key priority, and the organisation is working hard behind the scenes on advocacy and support, but we need the community’s help to restore confidence for visitors to our city.
“Visitors inject more than $7 billion annually into the Gold Coast economy, creating jobs and opportunities for our community, and we all need to come together and protect this industry and show the rest of Queensland and Australia that we are back in business,” Warn said.
“There is so much to enjoy and experience in our city, whether it’s food, arts, entertainment or time out in the hinterland, we want you to show and share your love for the Gold Coast.”
The campaign will be rolled out in three phases. This first phase is calling out to all Gold Coasters and visitors to show the city is open and accessible, share it on their social media channels, tag @ExperienceGoldCoast and use the hashtag #LoveGC.
The second phase is to ensure we protect upcoming bookings over the Easter school holidays, and the third phase will reinforce the Gold Coast as a year-round destination to visit, including winter and mid-week.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is the first cyclone the Gold Coast has seen in 70 years, significantly impacting the local community, events and tourism industry.
“The impact of this extreme weather event on the visitor economy is not yet fully known, but we know it has been severe and widespread,” Warn said.
“Our Impact Survey shows tourism operators, accommodation providers and restaurants and cafes have been hit hard with almost half of them closed for more than 7 days. In the week of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred alone, the estimated lost in visitor spend was $42 million.
“We are projecting a 20 per cent average drop in occupancy on the Gold Coast across the month of March, which we estimate will be a loss of $137 million in overnight expenditure.”
This does not include day trippers which traditionally sees close to one million people visiting the Gold Coast over the month of March.
The survey found 89 per cent of businesses experienced immediate cancellation, with 75 per cent losing forward bookings.
“This is why it is so important for everyone to get behind the Gold Coast and get out and enjoy everything it has to offer. Our operators need the love,’’ Mr Warn said.
