Gold Coast tourism operators were hit hard by heartbreaking figures during the school holidays. 

CEO of Destination Gold Coast Patricia O’Callaghan said the average occupancy at the end of the school holidays was 40 per cent, and operators were fatigued.

“There’s no sugar coating it, it was a really, really challenging period for us,” she told Scott Emerson.

“The school holiday traffic didn’t eventuate. It was quite heartbreaking considering in the lead-up to the school holidays, things were looking fantastic, we were looking at 70 per cent occupancy and that was growing by the hour.”

She said the news the third State of Origin game shifting to the Gold Coast was a “coup” for the region.

“I think for us, the launch of the extension of the Holiday Dollars campaign and another 10,000 vouchers, I think that will also get to businesses where they need it.”

Operators are hopeful Brisbanites will book mid-week Origin holidays.

“We want to see you down here!”

The Holiday Dollars scheme will also be extended after a huge take-up.

It will be extended to 40,0000 vouchers and there will be incentives for people to book quickly.

“In the last 4 weeks, we have had a great up take of these, we’ve had over 4000 bookings and over $1 million worth of sales, really really good news.”

Press PLAY below to hear her message for Brisbanites