6 SIGNS DRIVING RECOVERY CONFIDENCE

DO we dare dream that the worst just might be over?

That’s the question being asked in offices from Coomera to Coolangatta as unrelated flickers of hope suddenly combine to form a possible glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Many of those who toil on the coalface of business might find it hard to see right now, but every recovery has to start from somewhere and recent statistics show heartening signs that the tide is turning.

Who could have predicted that monthly tourist arrivals from Japan would suddenly grow for the first time in a decade? Or that family spending on entertainment and outdoor activities would surge 18 per cent year-on-year?

It was also hard to imagine an upside to the Gold Coast housing market after being slapped with the indignity of having one of the highest negative equity rates in the country. Just ask the canny southern investors and first-home buyers who have quietly returned to sniff out bargains.

Then there was the historic State election on March 24.

Never has the Queensland electorate spoken so forcefully for change. And nowhere was that message more clearly expressed than on the Gold Coast, where Campbell Newman’s LNP team made a unanimous sweep across 10 seats.

Improving economic data, a turnaround in dwindling tourist numbers and a sweeping change of State Government have fanned optimism on the Gold Coast for better times ahead. Read the entire story by getting your copy of the April issue of Gold Coast Business News - out soon at a newsagent near you.