Tourist Attractions on the Gold Coast

Introduction The Gold Coast is located on the East Coast of

Australia, in the state of Queensland, approximately 75km south of Brisbane.

The Gold Coast is a major tourist destination that attracts many visitors annually and there are many types of attractions available for tourists to visit during their stay.

There are 2 main groups of attractions on the Gold Coast – cultural and natural

Cultural Attractions are man-made attractions

For Example – Theme Parks, Jupiter's Casino, Pacific Fair Mall

Natural Attractions are physical phenomena that is unusual and/or beautiful

For example- Mt Tambourine, Burleigh Heads, Hinterland,

Cultural AttractionsTHEME PARKS – are one of the major

reasons why tourists come to the Gold Coast, causing increase in tourism development.

Agglomeration can be see with theme parks on the Gold Coast. Many of these theme parks are located near each other to share the advantages of a shared market.

Warner Bros. MOVIE WORLD - Opened 3 June 1991- Located  Pacific Highway, Oxenford,20 minutes

north of Surfers Paradise, 45 Minutes south of Brisbane.

- The park contains various movie-themed rides and attractions ranging from motion simulators to roller coasters and slow river rides. In addition, costumed character performers also patrol the park, allowing visitors the chance to take photos with them.

Sea World Opened 30 October 1971Located - Seaworld Drive, Main Beach. 3 kilometres north

of Surfers Paradise Is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and theme park

which includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife.

DreamworldOpened 15 December 1981Location: Coomera, QueenslandCurrently Australia's largest

theme park with over 27 rides including 4 roller coasters. The park is made up of several themed lands: Ocean Parade, Kid's World, Wiggles World, Gold Rush Country, Rocky Hollow, Tiger Island and the Australian Wildlife Experience. These lands feature a collection of rides, animal exhibits, shows, food outlets and merchandise shops.

Also in 2006 Dreamworld opened a water park called White Water World, attractions themed to Australian beach culture

Wet n’ WildOpened in 30 September 1984 Location: Wet'n'Wild Water

World is a large water park situated in Oxenford, owned by Warner Village Theme Parks.

In 2009, The park received 1,095,000 visitors ranking it first in Australia and eighth in the world. Wet'n'Wild Water World is located adjacent to Warner Bros Movie World, a movie-related park also owned by Warner Village Theme Parks. The park remains open all year with all of the pools and slides heated during the winter months.

Other Cultural AttractionsJupitars Casino- Opening date is November 1985

(partial), February 1986 (official) - It shows excitement of 7 award-

winning restaurants, 8 lively bars, a live stage show spectacular and non-stop casino action. Just minutes away from Surfers Paradise, the hotel is located on its own lush tropical island on the Gold Coast Highway and is set amongst seven stunning acres of landscaped gardens.

ShoppingPacific Fair Shopping

CentreIs a major shopping

centre located in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and was Queensland's largest regional shopping centre until 2006.

It Has both large retailers and smaller specialty stores, plus cinemas, entertainment and cafes, there is plenty to keep you occupied.

Natural Attractions Burleigh Heads is a suburb on the Gold

Coast. It is located in the middle between the southernmost Coolangatta and northern beach of Surfers Paradise. The main tourist attraction of Burleigh Heads is a national park that contains wildlife and offers scenic bushwalks overlooking the coastline of the Gold Coast.

Mt Tambourine- a 28 km² plateau (8 km long by 4 km wide) in the Scenic Rim, Gold Coast Hinterland, south-east Queensland. It is well-known for walking tracks winding through rainforest regions and occasionally past cliffs or waterfalls. The most well-known ones are the Curtis Falls rainforest track, and the Knoll. Tamborine Mountain attracts a large number of tourists to "Gallery Walk" along Long Road, a street devoted to art galleries, cafes and souvenir shops.

Despite all other attractions the principal attraction of the Gold Coast remains the stretch of fine white sand from Tweed to Stradbroke Island. The Gold Coast doesn’t need to rely on unique natural attractions but its subtropical weather (300 days a year of sunshine) and the beach for its image, attracting many people to the Gold Coast. Popular Beaches include Burleigh heads, Palm Beach, Mermaid Beach and Surfers paradise.

Overall effect on TD in the Gold Coast

Overall natural attractions and development of cultural attractions have had a positive

increase in TD in the Gold Coast. They attract millions of visitors annually, which is good for

the economy, creates many employment opportunities for residents and growth of

visitor numbers to the attractions has caused a growth of phenomena (e.g. retail, more

hotels, restaurants/cafes) also infrastructural improvements which benefit the tourists as

well as gold coast population.