First of all, I want to say Queensland – and Australia – will be the winner by holding the Commonwealth Games.
Events equal huge benefits for the local – and extended – community. Sunshine Coast has a fantastic, targeted events program, and we’ve all seen the benefits that events such as the Mooloolaba Triathlon, Caloundra Music Festival, Noosa Food & Wine Festival, Gympie Muster and the Hinterland’s Blackall 100 bring to their local communities.
Interestingly, while everything on the surface looks ‘gold’ for our friends down south during the Commonwealth Games, we have a golden glow ourselves.
We have had over 500 athletes from Commonwealth Games teams on the Coast training for the Games and created massive publicity in major feeder markets such as Scotland, plus we are expecting many Gold Coasters to vacate their patch and head north during the Games preferring green to gold.
To build on that we’ve just launched a new multi-media campaign to capitalise on Australians who want to escape the Commonwealth Games and enjoy a naturally refreshing ‘alternative’ break on the Sunshine Coast.
The Sunshine Coast is promoting its fresh beachside culture, natural wonders, rich food scene and immersive encounters in a promotion that is being featured in print, online and social media across Australia.
The ‘Escape to the Sunshine Coast’ campaign is highlighting that while the Commonwealth Games will be the centre of attention for many Australians in April, just a few hours north is a region that is ideal for families and couples to escape for short and longer term breaks in April.
We expect many international visitors coming to Queensland for the Games will want to see other parts of the State, and with our ease of access to Brisbane Airport, the Sunshine Coast is ideally placed to show a more green, less gold view of the State.
For the domestic market, our operators are offering some very attractive deals during April, so if you have friends and relatives from the south who want to keep the summer shining, just tell them that the Sunshine Coast offers a year-round ‘golden’ orb that will deliver medals throughout their stay.