The announcement of JetGo providing direct flights between Rockhampton and Gold Coast will certainly have the theme parks and Commonwealth Games organizers down there excited with prospects of getting more people from CQ frequenting them, but how will JetGo fill the return seats. Rockhampton needs at least another 10000 people to reside here for the existing infrastructure to be more viably utilized. Gold Coast needs to shed its population as its infrastructure is under stress. Instead of promoting Rockhampton as a destination for a quick visit promote it as a place to live. Health jobs for example always appear to be in demand, instead of promoting our Rockhampton tourist attractions on the Gold Coast, offer tours for health workers that include an inspection of our hospitals, education facilities and homes/units for sale. Imagine the return on investment if some who took the 1 hour flight did decide to move away from the rat race of the Gold Coast to live here. As other employment demand niches develop target them. It’s what the State Government should support if they are fair dinkum about strengthening regional Queensland at the expense of the south east corner. Let’s not wait though to see if they will. JetGo will only provide this service if there is sufficient viable demand right from the start. Being proactive in approaching local employers seeking specialized staff, researching if the Gold Coast has a pool of the applicable talent, arranging tours with the schools and real estate agents could all be happening now. What a terrific PR opportunity if the first JetGo Gold Coast to Rockhampton flight was 100% paid for by the local Council, employers and real estate agents. I believe we are talking $3600; less than the recruitment cost for one health professional I suspect. With some targeted promotion we should easily fill the 36 one way seats and generate significant publicity both here and the Gold Coast of how Rockhampton is taking advantage of the new service. Let’s face it we need to do something different than promoting our tourist assets to the tourist capital of Australia. The novelty of flying to Rockhampton will arguably fade quickly (as may the service) if this is our only strategy.