Tourism is Gold Coast City’s biggest revenue generating industry and accounts for roughly 25% of the city’s jobs. It contributes approximately 4.4 billion US dollars annually towards the city’s economy. Roughly ten million tourists visit Gold Coast annually. These include around 1.5 million international visitors, 3.5 million overnight domestic visitors and 5 million daytime visitors.

Apart from tourism, film production is another major industry in The Gold Coast. It is the third largest centre in terms of film production in Australia behind Melbourne and Sydney. It is a 150 million US dollar industry and accounts for 75% of all film production done in Queensland. Many Hollywood movies have been shot in Gold Coast City. The more famous ones include Scooby Doo, House of Wax (2005) and The Chronicles of Narnia series. Many Bollywood films have also been shot in Gold Coast. Most recently Singh is King was filmed in the city. Warner Bros. have their own studio set up in Gold Coast called Warner Roadshow Studios. It is next to Warner Bros. Theme Park at Oxenford. It is one of the largest studios in the Southern Hemisphere. There are eight sound stages, editing rooms, wardrobe, production offices, water tanks and construction workshops. The sound stages occupy an area of 10,844 square meters. The Queensland government has set up the Pacific Film and Television Commission to actively provide financial and non financial support to the film and television production industry of Gold Coast. It is also the shooting and production site for the Australian TV shows, Big Brother Australia, H2O: Just Add Water and the Strip.

Gold Coast also boasts of a number of orchestras including the Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra, Gold Coast Symphony Orchestra and Gold Coast Youth Orchestra.

While Gold coast may not be known for its live music scene courtesy the DJ and club culture that has become popular here, there are some musicians, initiatives, venues and organizations attempting to correct the imbalance.

Golfing is another major tourist attraction in Gold Coast. The famous golf courses of Gold Coast include Sanctuary Cove, Hope Island and the Glades. The other recreational activities include surfing and fishing. There are many sporting facilities in the city area like the Carrara Stadium, Super Sports Centre, Nerang Velodrome and Carrara Indoor Sports Centre. Some newer sporting complexes, having better facilities are also coming up. Examples include the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre which will be the home stadium for the City’s basketball team and the Skilled Park to host NRL games. Famous sporting heroes from Gold Coast city include Nathan Jones, a former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar and Grant Hackett a gold medal winner at the Olympics. Backpacking through Australia is never complete without a trip to Gold Coast city.