International Tourist are coming back: $1bn spent by internationals on Coast!

International visitors to the Gold Coast spent a little over AU$1 billion in the 12 months from July 2009 to June 2010, with a five per cent increase in visitor number s from the year prior.

The positive gain was made even more satisfying with the achievement of increases in Japanese (up by five per cent), Chinese (up by 15 per cent), and United Kingdom (up 18 per cent) visitors, three markets which have been the focus of increased efforts by the destination marketing organization, Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said.

"The Gold Coast really is Australia's number one tourism destination, our ability to attract a five per cent increase in international visitors, well above state and national trends, is a credit to the city's wide popularity and the positive work of our tourism businesses as they are out there fighting for every tourist," he said.

The International Visitor Survey (year ending June 2010), run by Tourism Research Australia, reported that the top three international source markets by visitor number were: New Zealand, down two percent at 200,000; Japan, up three per cent at 114,000; and China, up a whopping 15 per cent at 107,000 visitors.