Gold Coast locals offered 'Play Money' for discounts on attractions and experiences

A $1 million program led and funded by Destination Gold Coast will see locals receive discounts on tours, attractions and experiences in an effort to stimulate bookings.

The campaign called 'Play Money for Gold Coasters' will highlight the city's tourism offerings, giving locals 50 per cent discounts (up to $50) on a range of experiences from Friday 9 October.

For those located out of the region that are still keen to cash-in on the promotion a $10 discount will be applied at checkout.

Destination Gold Coast Chairman Paul Donovan said tapping into localised marketing was a first for the organisation which is ordinarily charged with promoting the tourist destination throughout Australia and internationally.

"It is imperative during this extraordinary time to safeguard the economic sustainability of Gold Coast tourism and that includes lending a hand to struggling businesses who desperately need our support now and into the future," said Donovan.

"Whilst local area marketing traditionally sat outside of Destination Gold Coast's remit, ongoing impacts to tourism businesses resulting from COVID-19 and the disruption at large to interstate travel, led us to take an active and leading role to market to the region to Gold Coasters."

The 'Play Money' will be available from Friday morning with 10,000 unique promotional codes unlocking more than 200 experiences including theme park and amusement venues, nature-based encounters, hot air ballooning, jet boating, wine tastings and transfers.

Powered by Experience Oz in partnership with Destination Gold Coast, the incentive will be accessible per unique user to book local tours and attractions up for grabs until the end of the year.

"Emphasis on the Gold Coast market ensures we effectively target 100 per cent of the visitor economy available to us right now and we hope 'Play Money' inspires locals to experience Australia's favourite playground for themselves," said Donovan.

"In a bid to offset those who can't travel to the Gold Coast, or may be reluctant to travel at-large, the local campaign is set to shoulder recovery efforts in the immediate term whilst instilling civic pride among residents.

"Once Queensland's border reopens and travel restrictions are further eased, we will turn our attention as planned to recapture the Gold Coast's core visitor fly markets, starting with New South Wales."

To book and browse tourism experiences visit DestinationGoldCoast.com/playmoney.

Updated at 11.51am AEST on 6 October 2020.