Southern Gold Coast News

Transport & Tourism Industry Seminar

Southern Cross University is hosting an industry seminar on Transport and Tourism as part of a two day symposium organised by the Transport Special Interest group of the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education in association with the Tourism & Transport Forum.

The industry seminar will focus on key tourism transport issues including; transport and tourism productivity and competitiveness, international visitor dispersal and facilitating accessibility. The sessions will be facilitated by leading industry experts and provide delegates with the opportunity to share concerns and experiences to create an agenda for the sector to inform policy-makers.

This seminar will be held from 1pm-5pm on Friday 7^th June at Southern Cross University’s Gold Coast campus in Bilinga. There is no cost for industry personnel to attend but places are limited and registrations must be made with Nicola Rowe at nic.rowe@scu.edu.au prior to the 01^st June.

For information on the symposium, please visit www.transport-sig.com.

CSGC is pleased to invite you to participate in EC3 Global’s Business Ready Energy Efficiency Workshop. Delivered by EC3 Global in partnership with ATEC, the online workshop develops knowledge and capacity within businesses to guide and drive operational efficiency efforts leading to savings in energy and energy costs.

The program has been developed as a simple online learning tool which can be accessed by yourself and your staff and completed at your leisure. The video modules only take 75 minutes in total and can be completed separately or all at once.

This program is ideal for small to medium size tourism businesses and their suppliers seeking an affordable pathway to T-QUAL Accreditation to increase their credibility, visibility and competitiveness. Thanks to Federal Government support for the Business Ready program, workshop participants can benefit from subsidised rates to join EarthCheck Assessed, a leading benchmarking tool endorsed as a quality assurance scheme by T-QUAL. For more details please see the attached Flyer.
Register for the Business Ready Workshop now for FREE TRAINING and access to these benefits.
Follow these three easy steps to get you started:
STEP 1 – Register on http://ec3.proficiencynow.com.au (choose your own username and password)
STEP 2 – Go to Purchase Courses, select the Energy Efficiency Workshop from the available courses and enter “atecnmem” as the Company Key for free access to the webinar
STEP 3 – Go the homepage and select My Learning and start the webinar
For more information about the program and how it can benefit your business, see http://www.earthcheck.org/services/businessready.aspx. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact EC3 on training@ec3global.com.

Touted as the “Saviour of the Aussies” the controversial move to North Kirra Beach proved to be the right choice for Surf Life Saving Australia, and the village of Kirra alike! Given some intense scrutiny over the past 12mths, the Surf Life Sving Assoc (SLSA) made a hard decision to move from Kurrawa and also faced critisism from competitors over the flatter, safer conditions of Kirra.

While competitor numbers were slightly down on last year at 6400, entries in the under-15’s and under-17’s divisions did rise. Which meant more families enjoying the beautiful surrounds of Kirra and Coolangatta, traditionally a favourite for family holidays.

Throughout the competition, the club members travelling from around the country commented positively about Kirra’s capacity to host the event despite the wider radius that competitors and their support teams needed to spread out over. Overall SLSA officials have much to celebrate with a flawlessly run event, huge crowds, peerfect weather and thrilling comptetion all week.

The Aussies will return to North Kirra in 2015, as 2014’s event will be held at Perth’s Scarborough Beach, we look foward to welcoming the SLSA team back to Kirra for another great event!

Bleach* Festival 2013 was a great success this year, despite some challenging weather conditions. Visitors from far and wide descended upon the unique Southern Gold Coast arts & culture festival to celebrate local stories and loads of entertainment across the festival’s 55 events.

You can relive all the festival fun at Bleach* Festival’s website gallery page here where you will find event image galleries as well as all the highlights clips put together by the Digital Cinematix HD team.

If you would like to be involved in 2014’s event, email us to get onboard for next year!

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and Gold Coast Tourism (GCT) will soon be launching a new brand campaign leveraging the ‘Famous for Fun’ brand message.  Also partnering with Virgin Australia, the key focus of the campaign is to drive visitor numbers and overnight stays to the Gold Coast across the May to September 2013 period.

Gold Coast operators are invited to promote their products and offers via an online holiday deal to appear on queensland.com/goldcoast. This call to action will appear in all media placements including cinema, TV and online.

The media spend for this campaign is over $600,000 and will target consumers in both Sydney and Melbourne.

This campaign is being executed alongside other Queensland whole of state activity which some of you may also be participating in.  This Gold Coast opportunity will allow operators to leverage from the dedicated Gold Coast marketing campaign aimed at embedding the Gold Coast as Famous for fun in the minds of consumers, generating consumer desire to book a Gold Coast holiday and increasing visitor expenditure within the region.

Further information and details on how you can participate can be found on the attached proposal.

Booking and material deadline

The booking deadline is Friday 3rd May 2013.

Material deadline is Monday 6th May 2013.

How to secure your booking?

Please fill out the attached booking form on page 3 of the proposal , sign, and either email or fax back to Rebecca Ryan on r.ryan@coroneo.com.au or (07) 32524862 to secure your position as part of the campaign.

Out and about with Peter!

Visiting MP’s talk with Surfing Industry Giants

Federal Members of Parliament Karen Andrews, Federal Member for McPherson and Sophie Mirabella, Federal Member for Indi & Shadow Minister For Industry, Innovation & Science (pictured to the right) met with surfing industry manufacturers Nev Hyman (Firewire Surfboards) and Richard Harvey  (Harvey Surf) to discuss various aspects of the surfing industry as an economic driver for the Southern Gold Coast region.

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SGC Product at ATE (Australian Tourism Exchange) Sydney 2013

In a win for the SGC region, for the first time, SGC regional products may well make their debut appearance in 2014’s ATE event. Pete hosted a number of SGC businesses including Ocean Plaza Resort, Kirra Surf Apartments, Cooly Rocks On, Bleach* Festival and Currumbin RSL at the largest Tourism Trade Event in the Southern Hemishpere attended by:

• Around 1,700 Australian Seller delegates from approximately 600 companies
• Approximately 700 key Buyer companies from over 40 countries
• Approximately 40 international and 25 Australian media, reporting to millions of people worldwide.

We hope that these businesses gained a lot of insight to this very valuable Trade event and look forward to having our regions products represented at next years event, which will be held in Cairns (Date TBA).

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Over the past month you may or may not have noticed the giant Koala that was placed on Musgrave St Kirra Beach, after all it was all in camo! Artist Midge Johanssen was the artist behind Kirra’s special  guest ‘Eco-Warrior’, just one of 21 wonderfully decorated Koala sculptures that formed a sculpture trail across the Gold Coast.

Last Monday we saud goodbye to Eco-Warrior as it was transported back to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in time to prepare for the Foundation Gala Dinner black tie event taking place on the 4th May to raise money for the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation via a charity auction where you could find yourelf the new owner of one of these awesome sculptures!

Check out our events calendar here for all the details, get your best tux/cocktail dress out and support the mamazing work of the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital as they raise much needed funds to continue their important work and be thoroughly entertained by the Foundation gala Dinner this coming Saturday evening!

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The Hon. Bruce Billson, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Member for Dunkley (pictured right with Peter Doggett, CSGC CEO and Karen Andrews Member for McPherson) addressed a group of small business operators at Bond University.

Aspiring to be a leader in the global hospitality industry?

Southern Cross University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management is pleased to offer Connecting Southern Gold Coast members the opportunity to study Leading and Managing People by intensive delivery mode in March 2013. The unit will be taught by Professor Tim Hinkin, an internationally recognised leadership expert from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

The unit will be the first from the Master of Business Administration in Hotel and Tourism Management to be taught by intensive mode in 2013. Completion of the unit will provide students with one unit credit towards the full Master’s program (12 units) or the earlier exit points of the Graduate Diploma (8 units) or the Graduate Certificate (4 units).

For information, please visit www.scu.edu.au/leadership or contact our Corporate Recruitment Officer at simon.black@scu.edu.au.

Here’s an opportunity for local businesses to benefit from industry funding opportunities to develop fresh skills and knowledge on key issues in your business.

Connecting Southern Gold Coast is proud to bring to you, our stakeholders, the Be Recognised – Be Better – Raise the Bar Program.  The program aims to “raise the bar” in areas such as customer service, sustainability, risk management and people management.

With support and funding from Queensland Tourism Industry Council this program will be offered to you at a special rate of $1200.00 for the full program and on-going support. This program would usually cost over $3,000!!

Come along to an information session and meet our training partners One Step Further to hear more about the program.

Where: One Step Further, 52 Marine Parade, Coolangatta

When: Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Time: 7.30am – 8.30am

Complementary continental breakfast will be supplied.  To register email Robyn Keenan or call 0418 777 209.

Be quick – limited places!

The Gold Coast will play host to the first Global Surf Cities Conference in the days preceding the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Surf Events, specifically 28 February and 1 March, 2013.

The premise of the conference is to assemble leading surf city representatives from around Australia and the world to hear from internationally acclaimed speakers in the themes of surf business, innovation in surf, surf tourism, coastal management, surf city governance and more.

The two major aims of the Conference are to establish a platform for networking among surf cities to develop globally sustainable surf industries, and to develop frameworks for international collaboration in surf industry education, employment and global career mobility.

The keynote address will discuss the findings of the Benchmarking Global Best Practice, Innovation and Leadership in Surf City Tourism, a study currently being undertaken by the Gold Coast Surf City Inc. committee, who is facilitating the Conference.

Gold Coast Surf City Inc. (GCSC) is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the continued growth and vitality of the Gold Coast surf cluster as a “global industry leader.”

Formally known as the Gold Coast Surf Industry Taskforce, GCSC was formed in February 2011 as part of a Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) initiative to help grow and support the $3.3 billion surf industry on the Gold Coast. The committee acts as a single collective voice for the surf industry on the Gold Coast, and through its endeavours, promotes the multi-billion dollar economic input to the area.

Registrations are now open for this inaugural event, through the following website: http://www.cvent.com/d/kcqddh

The 2013 Global Surf Cities Conference will be staged at the historic/heritage listed Kirra Community Centre, which overlooks the fabled Kirra surf break.  The conference will also play host to the World Surf Cities Network Annual General Meeting, an initiative that commenced in San Sebastian, Spain in 2011.

The WSCN network consists of nine leading surf cities from around the world including the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Donostia-San Sebastian in Spain, Arica in Chile, Durban in South Africa, Ericeira in Portugal, Hossegor in France, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain and Santos in Brazil.

This network is set to expand to include further Australian and international cities at the conference.  The WSCN is aimed s at encouraging a collaboration of and information sharing to create and maintain a globally sustainable surf industry.

The conference will also be a surf manufacturing trade demonstration, giving delegates a chance to interact and watch some of the Gold Coast’s leading craftsmen as they showcase the methods and techniques of surf board shaping.

The conference will finish on Friday 1st March on the corporate deck at the Quicksilver and Roxy Pro trials, a great opportunity to see the Gold Coast Surf industry in action and see some amazing surfing from the world’s best.

Chairman of Connecting Southern Gold Coast Mr Michael Tree has announced the appointment of Mr Peter Doggett as the new Chief Executive Officer for the organisation.

Mr Tree said the Board was delighted to have secured the services of Mr Doggett, given his wealth of industry experience of over 30 years in senior management positions, together with his insight & broader understanding of the Gold Coast tourism destination during this time.

‘With Peter’s appointment, we share the benefit of his extensive network of contacts both domestically & internationally ‘ he said.

CSGC is a controlled entity of the Gold Coast City Council, and as such Peter will be responsible for engaging with Council, as well as our local business stakeholders throughout the southern coastal strip with its 8 distinctive villages, located between Currumbin to Rainbow Bay and west along Currumbin Valley.

His responsibilities will be to maximise economic development opportunities in the four key areas of Education & Allied Health, Fly In Fly Out, Tourism & Hospitality and Culture & Festivals, to support our already highly successful Bleach* Festival and Cooly Rocks On, plus the well-established Swell Sculpture Festival.

Mr Doggett, a Consultant for the past 3 years following a lengthy 30 year career with Village Roadshow Theme Parks , said he looked forward to the immediate challenges which lay ahead, in what he described as ‘a wonderful opportunity to further develop and expand on the Southern Gold Coast’s iconic brand ‘.

‘This is a particularly favourite part of the Gold Coast for me, with its natural attractions encompassing the diverse landscape, lifestyle and pristine surfing beaches. Additionally, the region boasts major successful businesses including Gold Coast Airport, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Currumbin RSL, John Flynn Private Hospital and Southern Cross University.

Importantly there are eight (8) Surf Life Saving Clubs, which further reflect and enhance the significance of the popular surfing culture of the area.

I look forward to developing strategies with my team and the Board, in consultation with stakeholders including Gold Coast Tourism, to bring about improved business levels, especially in the Gold Coast ‘s traditional trough months of the year ’, he concluded.

Mr Doggett took up his appointment on Monday, 10th December at the newly opened Connecting Southern Gold Coast offices located at Suite 4, 421 Golden Four Drive in Tugun.