00:00Queensland's iconic beaches left in ruins, just ahead of the lucrative Easter holiday
00:09period.
00:11Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred stripping millions of cubic metres of sand from the Sunshine
00:16Coast to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.
00:20Six-metre escarpments stand where beachfronts once stretched on the Gold Coast, leaving
00:25holiday hotspots unrecognisable.
00:28Gold Coast hotelier Marion Simon fears Easter bookings could take a hit.
00:33This is something new, most of us haven't seen anything like this in our lifetime, so
00:37I do think that there will always be a certain amount of fear and a certain amount of hesitancy.
00:42The D'Amazo family, visiting from Sydney, evacuated ahead of the storm.
00:47Now they're back, trying to save what's left of their holiday.
00:51Queensland is our favourite place, it really is, and it's still beautiful.
00:54It's sunny today, it's blue skies, we woke up this morning to beautiful weather.
00:58Some holidaymakers say the beach transformation is a shock.
01:02Australians spend around $25 billion a year on coastal getaways.
01:07Tourism experts say operators need to act quickly in order to rebuild confidence.
01:13It's really important that operators get online and on their socials.
01:19Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate is confident beaches will be restored in time for the Easter school
01:24holidays next month.
01:26It's about putting the brand and the welcoming map and paint the picture, the clear blue
01:31skies back.
01:33Tourism operators finding silver linings in the meantime.
01:37We do now have the cliffs of Broadbeach and the cliffs of Surfers, but hey, that's something
01:41else you can say that you've seen.
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