{"id":6165,"date":"2016-04-18T01:11:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T01:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate.visitsunshinecoast.com\/?p=6165"},"modified":"2021-07-01T09:04:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T23:04:21","slug":"visitors-staying-longer-on-the-sunshine-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate.visitsunshinecoast.com\/visitors-staying-longer-on-the-sunshine-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Visitors staying longer on the Sunshine Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"
American market the \u2018star performer\u2019 as holiday visitors stay longer on the Sunshine Coast<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) figures produced by Tourism Research Australia painted an optimistic figure for the Sunshine Coast, with the American market a stand-out.<\/p>\n Overall, the Sunshine Coast attracted 251,000 international visitors in the year ending December 2015, according to the IVS statistics released today.<\/p>\n The American market was up 14%, with the Sunshine Coast growing well above the national average of 9.4%. The strong performance from across the Pacific came on the back of the \u2018Bindi factor\u2019 \u2013 the success of local hero, Bindi Irwin, in the USA version of Dancing with the Stars, during which she regularly spruiked her Sunshine Coast home.<\/p>\n Visitor numbers from the UK market were up 3.7%, and other stand-out performances were the Scandinavia region (up by 6.9%) and France (up 44%).<\/p>\n New Zealand remained the Sunshine Coast\u2019s largest international market, and there was significant growth over the 2015-16 summer period, as a result of direct Air New Zealand flights, which recorded 81% capacity levels across the season. Kiwi interest in the Sunshine Coast is expected to be sustained throughout the year with a new destination campaign launched recently and other travel trade activity underway.<\/p>\n The Sunshine Coast is also anticipating bumper domestic arrivals as a result of record figures at Sunshine Coast Airport.<\/p>\n