Inside Asian Gaming

IAG AUG 2019年8月 亞博匯 24 GLITTER STRIP Located about 80km south of Brisbane, the Gold Coast has long battled contrasting identities. Blessed with some of Australia’s most spectacular ocean beaches, it is both a popular family holiday destination boasting four famous theme parks – Dreamworld, Seaworld, Wet’n’Wild and Warner Bros. Movie World – and a colorful adults' playground highlighted by the bar and club strip of Cavill Avenue and the annual schoolies celebration that sees thousands of high school graduates converge for a raucous week-long party. But it is also one of the fastest growing regions in the country. With an annual growth rate ranging between 1.28% and 2.25% over the past eight years, the Gold Coast’s population is expected to rise by 100,000 between 2018 and 2025 to nearly 750,000, placing it sixth among all Australian cities. Demographers predict that by 2035 the corridor connecting the Gold Coast and Brisbane will boast roughly the same population as Sydney. Those numbers are matched by rising tourism, with a record 12 million domestic tourists in 2018 including 4 million overnight visitors. But it is the international market, numbering just over 1 million last year, that stakeholders have in their sights. UPPING THE ANTE “This Gold Coast opportunity will be a new magnet for millions more annual visitors – in particular international visitors,” says Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones. “A world-class catalytic project will take the Gold Coast and its cherished tourism offering to a whole new level.” China, already the Gold Coast’s largest international market, is top priority. Australia’s number one source COVER STORY