budget travel asia

About 10 million tourists visit the Gold Coast every year and tourism is the regions biggest industry contributing more than $4.4 billion into the city economy each year and directly accounting for one in four jobs in the city.

Gold Coast City is the major film production centre in Queensland and has been responsible for three quarters of all the film productions in Queensland since the 1990's. There is also a large Warner Brothers film studio, which has been the filming location for Scooby Doo, House of Wax and numerous Bollywood films. Warner Brother Studios has eight sound stages, editing rooms, production offices, construction workshops and water tanks. They have an overall floor space of 11,000 sq metres and is one of the largest studios in the Southern Hemisphere. The Gold Coast is also the popular film location for Australian TV shows like Big Brother, H2O: Just Add Water and The Strip.

Another tourist attracting in the Gold Coast is the Gold Coast Indy 300. This is an annual racing event, held each October, that goes through the street of Surfers Paradise and Main Beach. The Indy 300 also has other events such as the Indy Undie Ball, Miss Indy Competition and the V8 Super cars event. This event attracts a large crowd and makes it difficult to find hotel accommodation.

Other tourist attractions include theme parks and surf beaches. The Gold Coast is also home to the worlds highest residential tower, the Q1 building. The Q1 building has the second highest vantage point in the southern hemisphere, the Eureka Building in Melbourne being the first. The building observation deck is located on the 77th level, where you can get an expansive view from Brisbane to Byron Bay.

Another infamous Gold Coast tourist attraction is the Bikini Clad Metre Maids. The government introduced them in 1965 to put a positive spin on the new parking regulations. What they do is place coins in the expired metres and then leave a calling card under your wiper, to help you avoid getting a ticket. Although they are no longer ran by the government the Metre Maids are still around and still a popular tourist attraction at the Gold Coast.