Moncrieff Media

Jetstar keeps Coast flying

10 December 2009

Expanded Jetstar services to the Gold Coast are great news for local tourism, says local MP and Shadow Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo.

The new services will provide around 322,000 extra seats to the Coast each year, which Mr Ciobo said would provide greater competition and thereby improve the lure of the Coast as a destination for Sydneysiders, Melburnians and Novocastrians.

This announcement comes on top of the extra Tiger Airways service starting next week which will add an extra 65,000 seats annually.

“With one in four people on the Gold Coast employed in the tourism sector, our city relies on inbound tourists, and an additional daily service from Sydney will only help our local restaurants, entertainment venues, and hotels,” Mr Ciobo said.

“It is important local tourism businesses are busy all year round, and with international visitor numbers not displaying the growth of the past, the Gold Coast is relying largely on domestic tourists to fill the gaps.

“It has been a triple whammy for our tourism sector in recent times, with Labor introducing almost $1 billion of new tourism taxes, the Aussie dollar hovering around the US0.90c mark, the loss of the international component of the SuperGP and now rising interest rates.”

The first of the new Jetstar services will start from early April.

Mr Ciobo also commended Gold Coast Airport for the work it had done in securing so many low-cost carrier services to the Coast after the withdrawal of Qantas from Coolangatta.

“Gold Coast Airport has done an outstanding job in ensuring visitors keep coming to the Coast, especially in attracting low-cost carriers at family-friendly prices, which is great for local tourism and our economy,” he said.