The Gold Coast economy has received a $1.2billion boost from foreign visitor spending in the last year with the number of visitors cracking the one million mark.

1,034,000 holiday makers have visited the Gold Coast in the last year, up 9 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

It is the first time in more than two decades that Gold Coast visitor numbers have pushed over the million mark for two consecutive quarters.

Tourism Research Australia statistics show significant visitor growth from a number of countries including Japan up 18 per cent, America up 14 per cent, New Zealand up 11 per cent and China, which is the biggest Gold Coast visitor market, up 10 per cent.

Visitors from Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, France and Italy also recorded double digit growth.

First time Gold Coast visitors are a good indication of our city’s international holiday market appeal and this latest data shows numbers are up 14 per cent.

The stand out growth markets for first time visitors were Korea up 46 per cent, America up 25 per cent and both China and Japan up 17 per cent.

Return visitors are also up three per cent.

Gold Coast-based Federal Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo welcomed the latest confirmation of visitor rises, saying the tourism sector is forecast to continue growing into the next decade.

“The Gold Coast continues to be high on the agenda for overseas visitors and these figures show the one million international tourists who visited our city provided a welcome boost for our local economy,” he said.

“These figures show international tourists are continuing to drive local jobs and economic growth.”

The upward trends are obvious across Queensland with a total of 2.6million people visiting the sunshine state during the March quarter alone, injecting $5.2billion into the economy.

Queensland Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones said the latest data signals a new era of real long-term growth for Queensland’s tourism industry

The Minister also said the Queensland Government would continue to attract more visitors to the state through initiatives such as the Connecting with Asia strategy and the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, as well as major events throughout the year.

The latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) results are available on the Tourism Research Australia website at www.tra.gov.au