The number of international visitors to the Gold Coast grew by 3.8 percent as per International Visitor Survey (IVS). They spent U.S. dollars 1.4 billion for the year ending March 2019. Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said that overseas visitors spent an average U.S. dollars 1,323 per trip which was an increase of 6 percent year-on-year, to inject U.S. dollars 1.4 billion into our tourism economy.
She added that Gold Coast’s international visitor market accounts for 25 percent of their total overnight expenditure. Targeting higher value travellers will provide a stronger return for the tourism dollar.
Whilst visitor arrivals were down 2.1 percent to 1 million, the average length of stay was steady at 9.5 nights.
China is the largest international source market for Gold Coast, even though the Chinese arrivals decreased by 17.1 percent to 251,000. The decline in Chinese visitors is consistent with global trends over the last 12 months.
210,000 Kiwis flocked to the shores Gold Coast. It recorded a 9 percent spike in visitation.
Japanese visitors accounted for 70,000 (up 12.2 percent), followed by United Kingdom with 63,000 visitors, and USA saw a 5.5 percent dip to 38,000 visitors.
Qantas has announced non-stop flights from Brisbane to Chicago and San Francisco from April next year. The Gold Coast is set to benefit from a growing in inbound market.
Tags: Gold Coast, international visitors, record
