Visiting the Gold Coast

Tourism is the Gold Coast regions biggest industry contributor with more them 10 million tourist and $4.4 billion coming into the city each year.

What many don't know is that Gold Coast is home to the major film production centres in Queensland. Warner Brothers Studios occupying 11,000 sq metres of floor space has eight sound stages, editing rooms, productions offices, construction workshops and water tanks. They have also been the filming location for films such as Scooby Doo, House of Wax and numerous Bollywood movies. The Warner Brothers Studios is the largest studio in the Southern Hemisphere. Some other shows filmed in the Gold Coast are popular Australian TV shows such as Big Brother, H2O: Just Add Water, and The Strip.

The Gold Coast Indy 300 (formerly known as Lexmark Indy 300) is a car racing event held annually in October. The course ventures through the streets of Surfers Paradise and Main Beach. The Indy 300 comprises many other events such as the Indy Undie Ball and the Miss Indy Competition.The V8 Super cars event also coincides with the Indy 300 using the same track route .This attracts a huge following and most hotels and accommodation is booked out around this time.

As well as the major tourist attractions that include the theme parks and surf beaches, the Gold coast is home to the worlds highest residential tower, the Q1 building. It is the second highest vantage point in the southern hemisphere after the Eureka Building in Melbourne. The observation Deck at level 77 is the highest of its kind in Queensland and offers expansive views in all directions from Brisbane to Byron Bay. It towers the Surfers Paradise skyline, with the observation deck 230 metres high and the spire extending nearly another hundred metres up. In total, the Q1 is 322.5 metres high.

The other infamous Gold Coast tourist attraction is the Bikini Clad Metre Maids. These were introduced in 1965 to Surfers Paradise in an attempt to put a positive spin on new parking regulations.To avoid tickets being issued for expired parking, the Metre Maids dispense coins into the metre and leave a calling card under the windscreen wiper of the car. The Maids are still a popular part of the Surfers Paradise culture but are now run by private enterprise and not by the local government.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com