READY FOR TAKEOFF

WRITTEN BY ANDREW POTTS

The anticipation is almost palpable.

Australians have largely been grounded for the past two years, with virtually no international travel and only fleeting interstate holidays amidst rolling lockdowns, border closures and Covid outbreaks.

But those brief periods of activity in 2021 were just an amuse bouche for the cornucopia of flights set to take off in 2022 as tourism resumes.

And the Gold Coast will be the major beneficiary.

Data compiled by Destination Gold Coast in 2021 revealed the city is the top destination which travel-starved domestic tourists want to visit, beating out some of the nation’s biggest cities.

Time Magazine named the city one of the 100 greatest places in the world to visit, ranking it alongside Dubai, the iconic capitals of Europe and Athens.

The return of major events and conferences, including the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival and GC 500 motorsports weekend, puts the Gold Coast on the comeback trail after a tough two years.

With international visitors also chomping at the bit to return to Australia, the city is poised to reap the benefits of this new wave of tourism.

And those flying into the city will be greeted by a new-look Gold Coast Airport.

More than $500 million has been spent in the past three years to expand its terminal to create an airport for the 2020s, which will come packed to the gills with an array of features and again make it competitive on the international stage.

The expansion is due to open in 2022.

QUEENSLAND AIRPORTS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER MARION CHARLTON SAID THE 30,000 SQM TERMINAL EXPANSION WAS A “GAME- CHANGER” WHICH WOULD ALLOW FOR FUTURE GROWTH AHEAD OF THE REGION CO-HOSTING THE 2032 OLYMPIC GAMES.

“The expansion is being delivered as domestic and international tourism take off again and continues building in the longer term,” she said.

“The Gold Coast is regularly ranked as one of the leading destinations overseas holidaymakers want to visit and is already the country’s number one domestic holiday destination.

“It will double our terminal footprint and customers will experience a fresh, modern terminal, along with the same warm welcome and ease of use they have come to expect at Gold Coast Airport.”

The expansion will see the terminal become a threelevel building which will have significantly expanded retail offerings, new boarding facilities, a larger departure lounge and new baggage handling and border control facilities.

The centrepiece of the expansion will be four glass aerobridges, the first to be built on the Gold Coast.

These will allow passengers to board and exit planes in inclement weather and brings it to the same standard as terminals found in the nation’s capital cities.

The terminal’s design was refined to reflect the Gold Coast and northern NSW, with the building painted green and bronze to evoke the Hinterland on its western side and bright blues and greens on the east to resemble the ocean.

About 6.5 million people passed through Gold Coast Airport’s terminal in 2019, a record year for the complex.

But the Covid-19 pandemic hit the travel sector hard in early 2020 and, at its lowest ebb, the terminal was closed because of no regular passenger services operating at just 1 per cent of its capacity.

Ms Charlton said airport and tourism industry figures were working rapidly to restore international travel routes, paving the way for the return of highly lucrative overseas visitors.

“Prior to Covid-19 there were international links between the Gold Coast and Singapore, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and four New Zealand cities – we expect connections to be quickly re-established when international travel resumes,” she said.

“Gold Coast Airport passenger numbers have been some of the fastest-growing in the country in the past decade – from 1.8 million passengers in 1998 to about 6.5 million annually in 2019.

“The airport needs to be able to accommodate the expected long-term growth in demand for the destinations we are the gateway to, and that is why $500 million is being invested in growing our airport precinct.

“Although Covid-19 has presented unprecedented challenges for our business and our people, we are confident in the future of our region.

“OUR POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW AND THE REGION’S POPULARITY WITH VISITORS IS SHOWING NO SIGN OF SLOWING DOWN, SO WE ARE ENTERING A NEW CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF GOLD COAST AIRPORT – AND WE ARE GETTING READY FOR TAKE- OFF.”

Pre-pandemic data reveals the increasing strength of the Gold Coast’s events and tourism sector.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre was consistently booked out with events to the point where an expansion is necessary, while the Gold Coast Turf Club’s facilities are set for a dramatic revamp.

Lights for night racing have been approved, as have expansions to its racing and grandstand facilities.

The Magic Millions Carnival and raceday, held each January has long been established as one of the key events on the calendar, injecting more than $25 million into the economy and delivering 47,293 visitor nights to local accommodation providers in 2019.

These figures marked a year-on-year increase of 4243 visitor nights on the previous year.

And it’s not just tourists.

The airport’s terminal expansion comes at a time when more people than ever want to live on the Gold Coast.

The city’s population is growing at a faster-thananticipated rate of more than 10,000 people per year, a figure supercharged by residents of southern states, exhausted by the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, seeking a new life.

The Gold Coast’s real estate industry is now experiencing its biggest boom in more than 30 years, with a multi-billion dollar wave of tower development, including several new hotels, under construction.

The airport has already opened its $50 million Rydges hotel outside the terminal, near Coolangatta, putting it ahead of several other projects already underway.

With the 2032 Olympic Games just 10 years away and the city on the tip of a significant travel resurgence, the Gold Coast’s tourism industry is set for one of its busiest years on record.