@GoGoBoy the commonwealth games are right around the corner, afterall! ?

 

But how many tourist does the Commonwealth games actually generate? OR is it more the free advertising.

Not sure, but apparently GC businesses are expecting a lot more numbers because of it. Even the hotel I work at in Surfers Paradise is about to start refurbishing its rooms in anticipation of the event next year. Managers are talking very excitedly about it.  

Competitors will likely go after they've finished their events. Some have families joining them who might visit outside of the competition. Then there's the visitors for the event, volunteers for the games who are visiting the park on their downtime...

The parks should have great numbers.

19 minutes ago, Glubbo said:

Competitors will likely go after they've finished their events. Some have families joining them who might visit outside of the competition. Then there's the visitors for the event, volunteers for the games who are visiting the park on their downtime...

The parks should have great numbers.

Yup. I've already booked my annual leave for the week after the games have finished, even though it's a year away and I haven't even started my annual leave this year!!

My feeling is that any boost to tourist numbers during the games would almost certainly be offset by local residents that are getting out of town or avoiding tourist areas like a plague. I think a fairly small selection of things like Australian Outback Spectacular that are more tourist oriented will fare better than the major theme parks, who rely heavily on locals. By and large though I think it'll be a wash.

Beyond the actual games there's of course plenty of exposure to be gained by the region as a whole as a result of the Commonwealth Games.

 

not to mention - a lot of locals would likely be signing up to be GOLDOC volunteers - leaving very little time for them to visit a park either.

i do agree though - regional exposure to the world is what is necessary - and nothing like a shiny new thrill ride dominating the highway for the international media to do a filler piece when their athletes aren't competing.

Sydney saw an increase overall in tourism prior to and after the games - because thats the other contributing factor - airlines shuttling thousands upon thousands of games-related passengers don't want to return the flight with an empty plane - so they'll offer cheap flights on the opposite leg of each trip to fill the flight - which will bring tourists in.

Yep... family & I hit the states whilst the 2000 Olympic stadium were on. Flights were crazy cheap 

46 minutes ago, Richard said:

My feeling is that any boost to tourist numbers during the games would almost certainly be offset by local residents that are getting out of town or avoiding tourist areas like a plague.

I'm sure some of us would still be willing to brave the crowds to ride the brand new biggest rollercoaster in the southern hemisphere, chill out at the newly built Topgolf venue and whatever else is added in the wake of the upcoming games.  

Geez, I voluntarily stood in line for nearly an hour and a half during the Xmas peak period just to ride Scooby in its current state ? And was prepared to do the same for the DC Super-Villians Unleashed precinct, given it was originally advertised to open during the Sept holidays. 

That said, local visits would probably become more frequent post-games. But I'm sure there will be enough added to keep some locals still interested in attending in the meanwhile. This is the biggest upgrade we have seen to MW in a long time, so the excitement factor is at an all-time high right now ??

From the documents I have seen, they expect the region to have between 1-2 million visitors (including regional residents) through the Gold Coast region over the 2 week course of the games.

I am guessing that they are including the normal visitors for the Gold Coast in their estimates...why it was in docs for venue lighting I have no idea....sadly came second on that tender anyway as it would have been a hell of a job.