Sunday, June 28, 2009

Visiting the Gold Coast

By Cordelia Kennedy

Tourism is the Gold Coast regions biggest industry contributor with more them 10 million tourist and $4.4 billion coming into the city each year.

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.

Along with other major attractions, such as theme parks and surf beaches, Gold Coast is also home to the worlds highest residential tower, the Q1 building. The 77th floor of the building is where you can find the observation deck which gives you a breath taking look at the expansive skyline 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.

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