Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate doesn’t believe it’s too soon after the Dreamworld disaster to start talking about planning another theme park in the region.
Chinese operator Songcheng has revealed plans to build a 40.4ha culture-based theme park in Carrara, with the master plan expected to be completed by the end of next June.
‘It’s never a bad time to talk about enhancing our tourism infrastructure,’ Mr Tate said.
‘The way we look at it on the Gold Coast, we like to broaden our economy and we want to broaden our tourism economy.’
The park would differ significantly from the other four already based on the Gold Coast, with a focus on Australia’s indigenous history as well as the Oriental world.
And Mr Tate said he was unfazed about any further development creating a cluttered market, and that the project would instead help improve the region’s established attractions.
‘There’s room for another three (parks),’ he said.
‘More competition means that they have to update their parks to keep up with it.
‘Back in the day, we were the No.1 choice for theme parks, and we’ve got to keep doing that to stay up the top.’
Mr Tate has previously visited a similar park owned by the company in China’s holiday district of Sanya, and said the company already had the funds available for the development of “Australian Legendary Kingdom”.
The mayor also downplayed concerns Australians would be unwilling to go a theme park that was in some ways based on the Chinese culture.
‘This is a quintessential Gold Coast theme park,’ he said.
‘When it comes to lights and fun it’s an international park.’
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