15 July 2026

More than 150 of the Gold Coast's most influential business, investment and industry leaders have reinforced the city's position as one of Australia's fastest-growing and most diversified economies, pointing to collaboration, innovation and a culture of saying "yes" as the ingredients driving its next phase of growth.

The message emerged at Gold Coasters in Conversation, a leadership forum hosted at HOTA this week by ARRC Gold Coast, Brand Gold Coast, Experience Gold Coast and Invest Gold Coast. 

Building on the findings of the recently released State of the City 2026 - which revealed the Gold Coast is now a $55 billion economy, home to more than 83,000 businesses, 350,000 jobs and a $23 billion development pipeline - the evening shifted the focus from the numbers to the people and partnerships turning that growth into long-term opportunity.

Across two panel discussions hosted by Chair of Brand Gold Coast Melissa Donnelly, leaders from property, technology, venture capital, defence innovation, advanced manufacturing, screen production, spinal research and the creative economy explored what it takes to build, scale and invest on the Gold Coast.

Panellists included Andrew Bell OAM (Ray White Bell Group), Peta Ellis (Beaten Zone Venture Partners), Luke Altschwager (Palm Valley Gold Coast), Kara O'Dwyer (FleetGuru.ai), Schuyler Weiss (Bazmark), Bella Zanesco (Aussie Athlete Fund and Torus), Matt Brookes (Visy) and Perry Cross AM (Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation).

While their perspectives differed, there was strong consensus that the Gold Coast's greatest competitive advantage lies in its ability to connect people, ideas and investment, creating an environment where businesses can scale smarter and succeed on merit.

Acting Mayor Cr Mark Hammel opened the evening by positioning the Gold Coast as a city that has built the platform for sustained economic growth.

"The State of the City Report tells us where our economy is today, what tonight demonstrated is why we're continuing to outperform,” said Acting Mayor Cr Hammel.

"What we heard consistently from business leaders was that this is a city where ideas move quickly, where industries collaborate and where people are willing to back opportunity.

"The Gold Coast has built an incredibly strong platform and the next chapter will be written by the businesses, entrepreneurs, researchers and investors choosing to build their future here."

 The Acting Mayor said the conversations reflected the roles of the four city entities in connecting industry, investment and opportunity.

"One of the strongest themes to emerge tonight was that businesses don't succeed in isolation, they succeed when they're connected to the right people, the right networks and the right opportunities,” he said. 

Cr Hammel said brand was at the core of this work, with the city's growing reputation continuing to be shaped by the people building its future.

"The Gold Coast has extraordinary stories being created every day and when founders, innovators and business leaders share those stories, they're helping shape how our city is understood by investors, talent and markets around the world,” he said. 

"Those stories need to be seen, heard and celebrated because they are one of the city's greatest competitive advantages."