Visitor boom boosts Coast tourism businesses
Tue 11 November 2008
Laura Nolan, Journalism
The global economic crisis appears to have had no adverse effect on Queensland tourism, with Sunshine Coast businesses cashing in on increased visitor numbers.
According to the most recent visitor snapshot from Tourism Sunshine Coast, international visitors have increased from 263,100 in 2007, to 284,000 in 2008, a rise of over 20,000 tourists.
Aussie World, one of the Sunshine Coast’s most iconic tourist attractions, has benefited from the increase in visitors to the Coast.
Aussie World general manager David Thompson said visitor numbers had been on the increase for the theme park in the last few years, and that school holidays brought the biggest visitor surge.
“The Christmas holiday period, September holiday period, July and the Easter period-there’s four peaks for the year,” Mr Thompson said.
In addition to this general visitor swell are the 850,000 estimated tourists that Aussie World expects to draw to the area upon the completion of a $70 million water park, commissioned by entertainment company Village Roadshow Limited.
Mr Thompson said the water park, and the tourists it would attract, would have a “huge” impact on the future of Aussie World, allowing the park to become a major tourist attraction for the whole Sunshine Coast.
“People will stay on the Coast longer, they’ll come here for holidays,” Mr Thompson said.
“It will be a destination point.
“We’ve got some fantastic attractions here such as Underwater World, the Big Kart Track, the Zoo, the beaches, seeing the land.
“It’ll do wonders for the whole area.”
Maroochydore’s Top Shots Fun Park owner Barry Higgins said his business had also experienced a rise in tourist numbers during recent years, and that Top Shots had implemented new attractions such as a waterslide to increase park production.
“We are always trying to make marketing more efficient,” Mr Higgins said.
Mr Higgins also said that, although the Sunshine Coast would benefit from the construction of the Aussie World water park in the long term, it could initially draw numbers away from smaller tourist businesses.
“For the Coast it will be positive, but for other attractions initially it will be negative when it first opens,” Mr Higgins said.
Aussie World Water Park will contribute to the growing diversity of Sunshine Coast attractions as other tourist businesses employ new strategies to compete with the growing popularity of internationally recognised theme parks such as Australia Zoo.
However, Adventura’s application for its own water park at Caloundra has promoted concerns about whether additional commercial theme parks are actually needed in the area.
Mr Thompson agreed that the Sunshine Coast should introduce other larger theme parks.
“As long as they’re diversified, it will lengthen the stay of visitors here,” Mr Thompson said.
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