Australia’s tourism hot spot, Queensland’s Gold Coast, is racing to restore its beaches after they were devastated by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred earlier this month.
A mammoth effort to restore lost beaches in being backed by a marketing campaign to assure visitors that the Gold Coast will shine again within a few weeks.
Cyclone Alfred washed the equivalent of 2,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of sand off the Gold Coast's beaches. "80% of our beach is gone into the ocean," Gold Coast City mayor Tom Tate said.
Work is now underway to pump sand lost to the ocean back onto the shoreline.
“There is no doubt our city will bounce back, and our iconic beaches will return to their former glory ready to welcome the millions of holidaymakers who choose our destination each year,” Tate added.
In the week of Cyclone Alfred, the estimated loss in visitor spend was A$42 million (US$26.5 million),” said Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn. “We are projecting a 20% average drop in occupancy on the Gold Coast across the month of March, which we estimate will be a loss of A$137 million in overnight expenditure.”
The economic damage resulting from the cyclone broke a record-breaking run for Brisbane, Queensland capital, and the Gold Coast.
Visitor spend in the two cities in 2024 reached A$11.3 billion for Brisbane and A$8.1 billion for the Gold Coast, according to the latest Tourism Research Australia.
“The Gold Coast is bouncing back, but we still have a massive job ahead, to support our tourism operators, accommodation providers and restaurants and cafes,” Warn said.
Longer term, Brisbane has announced a new stadium will be built in Brisbane as the centrepiece of the 2032 Olympic Games, along with a host of venues and arenas across Queensland.