The Gold Coast is located in Queensland, Australia and is a major tourist destination known for its cultural and natural attractions. Cultural attractions include several large theme parks such as Movie World, Sea World and Dreamworld which attract millions of visitors annually. Natural attractions include beaches, mountains and forests featuring scenic views. These attractions, along with the warm climate, have increased tourism development on the Gold Coast and resulted in economic growth and job opportunities for local residents.

1. Tourist Attractions on the Gold Coast

2. Introduction The Gold Coast is located on the East Coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland, approximately 75km south of Brisbane. The Gold Coast is a major tourist destination that attracts many visitors annually and there are many types of attractions available for tourists to visit during their stay. There are 2 main groups of attractions on the Gold Coast – cultural and natural Cultural Attractions are man-made attractions For Example – Theme Parks, Jupiter's Casino, Pacific Fair Mall Natural Attractions are physical phenomena that is unusual and/or beautiful For example- Mt Tambourine, Burleigh Heads, Hinterland,

3. Cultural Attractions THEME PARKS – are one of the major reasons why tourists come to the Gold Coast, causing increase in tourism development. Agglomeration can be see with theme parks on the Gold Coast. Many of these theme parks are located near each other to share the advantages of a shared market.

5. Located Pacific Highway, Oxenford,20 minutes north of Surfers Paradise, 45 Minutes south of Brisbane.

7. Dreamworld Opened 15 December 1981 Location: Coomera, Queensland Currently Australia's largest theme park with over 27 rides including 4 roller coasters. The park is made up of several themed lands: Ocean Parade, Kid's World, Wiggles World, Gold Rush Country, Rocky Hollow, Tiger Island and the Australian Wildlife Experience. These lands feature a collection of rides, animal exhibits, shows, food outlets and merchandise shops. Also in 2006 Dreamworld opened a water park called White Water World, attractions themed to Australian beach culture

8. Wet n’ Wild Opened in 30 September 1984 Location: Wet'n'Wild Water World is a large water park situated in Oxenford, owned by Warner Village Theme Parks. In 2009, The park received 1,095,000 visitors ranking it first in Australia and eighth in the world. Wet'n'Wild Water World is located adjacent to Warner Bros Movie World, a movie-related park also owned by Warner Village Theme Parks. The park remains open all year with all of the pools and slides heated during the winter months.

11. Natural Attractions Burleigh Heads is a suburb on the Gold Coast. It is located in the middle between the southernmost Coolangatta and northern beach of Surfers Paradise. The main tourist attraction of Burleigh Heads is a national park that contains wildlife and offers scenic bushwalks overlooking the coastline of the Gold Coast. Mt Tambourine- a 28 km² plateau (8 km long by 4 km wide) in the Scenic Rim, Gold Coast Hinterland, south-east Queensland. It is well-known for walking tracks winding through rainforest regions and occasionally past cliffs or waterfalls. The most well-known ones are the Curtis Falls rainforest track, and the Knoll. Tamborine Mountain attracts a large number of tourists to "Gallery Walk" along Long Road, a street devoted to art galleries, cafes and souvenir shops. Despite all other attractions the principal attraction of the Gold Coast remains the stretch of fine white sand from Tweed to Stradbroke Island. The Gold Coast doesn’t need to rely on unique natural attractions but its subtropical weather (300 days a year of sunshine) and the beach for its image, attracting many people to the Gold Coast. Popular Beaches include Burleigh heads, Palm Beach, Mermaid Beach and Surfers paradise.

12. Overall effect on TD in the Gold Coast Overall natural attractions and development of cultural attractions have had a positive increase in TD in the Gold Coast. They attract millions of visitors annually, which is good for the economy, creates many employment opportunities for residents and growth of visitor numbers to the attractions has caused a growth of phenomena (e.g. retail, more hotels, restaurants/cafes) also infrastructural improvements which benefit the tourists as well as gold coast population.