Surf Beach 63

MEDIA RELEASE - SURF LIFE SAVING QUEENSLAND TARGETS VULNERABLE TOURISTS WITH NEW-LOOK “BEACH SAFE” MAPS


MEDIA CALL
Where: Gold Coast Airport, northern end near international arrivals
When: Tuesday, March 24
Time: 7.45am, 9am
What: Gold Coast Beach Safe program co-ordinator Scott Harrison and staff hand out new-look Beach Safe Maps to visitors at Gold Coast Airport.

SURF Life Saving Queensland’s (SLSQ) acclaimed Gold Coast Beach Safe program will next week launch new-look information maps to educate visitors from overseas and interstate about surf safety.

Beach Safe’s airport welcoming service aims to target visitors on flights from Asia and Victoria, who statistically are at the highest risk of drowning on Gold Coast beaches.

An airport service has been operating for several years, but next week will introduce its new-look map to visitors, which displays every patrolled beach on the Gold Coast and includes surf safety information in 15 languages.

The service will also now greet arriving passengers from two newly introduced routes – Tokyo and Osaka – to add to its current routes from Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne.

Supported by Harbourtown, Currumbin Sanctuary and Gold Coast Airport, Beach Safe staff in patrol uniform will be handing out the new maps to ensure visitors to popular beaches have the best possible safety information from the start of their holidays.

Beach Safe co-ordinator Scott Harrison said the maps were an important part of SLSQ’s strategy to extend its community education programs in an effort to break the drowning cycle.

“Our statistics show us that people from Victoria, Japan and Malaysia are at greatest risk of drowning on Gold Coast beaches, so the program aims to greet them when they first arrive and deliver vital surf safety information before they make their first beach visit,” he said.

“The new-look maps show very clearly which beaches on the Gold Coast are patrolled, as well as important safety advice, including a guide to the different-coloured flags used on a beach.

“We hope this information will help thousands of visitors keep their holidays incident-free, as part of our goal of zero preventable deaths and injuries on Queensland beaches.”

The Gold Coast Beach Safe airport welcoming service greets arriving passengers at Gold Coast Airport on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

On an average day, it reaches hundreds of visitors from three Melbourne flights, one Kuala Lumpur flight and one flight from either Tokyo or Osaka.

Beach Safe is just one part of Surf Life Saving Queensland’s wider community education program, which last year alone gave 65,506 people vital surf safety awareness education.

ENDS

Media, please note: The Beach Safe team will be greeting five flights on Tuesday, from 6.05am to 9am. We anticipate the last two flights – from Kuala Lumpur, at 7.50am, and Melbourne, at 9am – will be the most convenient for media to obtain photographs and vision.

For more information, contact:
Christina Ongley
SLSQ media and communications executive
3846 8035 / 0419 201246
congley@lifesaving.com.au

Scott Harrison
Gold Coast Beach Safe co-ordinator
0401 997391
beachsafe@lifesaving.com.au