Visit Sunshine Coast hosted a lunch yesterday at a chic Sydney venue to say thanks for a stellar 2015 and to brief media on an exciting year ahead for the region.
“We want people to visit the Sunshine Coast” – that’s the core message behind yesterday’s industry lunch at new Sydney venue Kansas City Shuffle – a soon-to-open restaurant housed within the old Cadbury factory.
And judging by the latest stats, travellers around the country and indeed the world are listening, flocking to this stunning region just one hour’s drive north Brisbane.
The Sunshine Coast received over 2.9 million domestic and over 256,000 international visitors (lots of Americans) in 2015, bringing in over $1.8 million into the local economy.
The region also recorded a 19% increase in passenger numbers at Sunshine Coast Airport for December 2015, and total passenger movements for December were 87,097, and 508,808 for the six months from July to December – that’s the highest ever figure recorded by the airport, continuing two years of international and domestic arrivals growth.
The increased passenger numbers were the result of increases in flights by Jetstar, Virgin and Air New Zealand, and the return of Qantas after an absence of ten years.
As the fastest growing airport in Australia, Visit Sunshine Coast (formerly Sunshine Coast Destination) are confident that the Sunshine Coast Airport will be granted approval to expand later this year.
“We are confident of approval for an extension of the Sunshine Coast Airport runway during the year, as it will allow larger aircraft with greater capacity to operate into and out of Sunshine Coast Airport throughout the year.”
Left to right: Peter Hook, Communications Consultant, Sunshine Coast Destination; Simon Ambrose, CEO, Visit Sunshine Coast
Simon Ambrose, CEO, Visit Sunshine Coast
The Sunshine Coast reported strong growth despite the falling Aussie dollar in 2015, and it’s expected the growth will continue throughout 2016 especially with a whole string of events lined up as a part of the “World is Coming to the Sunshine Coast” campaign – The Ginger Flower & Food Festival, the Caloundra Music Festival, and the Maroochy Music and Visual Arts Festival to name a few.
With more than 300 days of sunshine per year and the opening of the Best Western Plus, a new Riverside Resort “glamping” village, and the expansion of existing properties such as the Novotel Twin Waters Resort, the Sunshine Coast really does have it all.
Are you making more bookings for travel to the Sunshine Coast? Let us know in the comments below.
