Overview
Over the past few months, the Queensland Government has been trying to entice the state's residents out of the house by handing out travel vouchers. First came 15,000 to use in the state's north, then 30,000 for Greater Brisbane and 6000 for The Whitsundays, then another release of 5000 for folks already holidaying in the Cairns region. That's a hefty batch of incentives — and more are coming. Next up: 30,000 vouchers for Queenslanders to put towards getaways on the Gold Coast.
Whether you'd like to spend a few nights in Surfers Paradise, you haven't been to a theme park for a while or you're keen to explore more of what the Goldie has to offer, you'll be able to apply to nab one of the 30,000 $100 vouchers for tourism experiences and accommodation in the area. Like the past voucher drops, the concept has two obvious aims: enticing Queensland residents to go venturing throughout the state, and helping support tourism businesses.
The new scheme, called Gold Coast Holiday Dollars, was revealed today, Thursday, June 3, by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. And if you're wondering what you can spend the money on, when you can spend it and exactly how you can get your hands on the vouchers, that was announced, too.
From 12pm AEST on Monday, June 7, the draw for the Gold Coast vouchers will be open to Queensland residents over the age of 18 — and you'll need to head to queensland.com to nab one. You'll register before 11.59pm AEST on Thursday, June 10 and, if you're successful, you'll be notified via text and email from Wednesday, June 16. As happened last time, there's likely to be more interested folks than there are available vouchers, so they'll be handed out at random.
Those who manage to score a voucher will then be able to use it to book until Wednesday, July 21, for travel up until Friday, September 17. The vouchers can only be spent on tourism experiences — such as tours and attractions — and accommodation, and they'll enable you to get up to 50 percent off your booking, maxing out at $100.
When the Cairns scheme was announced back in March, Premier Palaszczuk said that it could be rolled out across the rest of the state if the vouchers are popular. That's obviously happened a few times now, but there's no word as yet about whether other parts of Queensland might be covered in the future.
Applications for the 30,000 $100 Gold Coast Holiday Dollars travel vouchers will be open between 12pm AEST on Monday, June 7–11.59pm AEST on Thursday, June 10. For more information, or to apply during the aforementioned window, head to the Gold Coast Holiday Dollars website.