The G.C. worries tourism industry

The G.C.: Tame Noema, Scaffolder/investor, originally from Upper Hutt, Wellington.

The G.C.: Zane Houia, Scaffolder, originally from Hastings.

The G.C. cast

The G.C.: Rosanna Arkle, Accounts Manager/ Part time Model, originally from Whangarei.

The G.C.: Ngahere "Nuz" Ngatai, Singer/Entertainer, originally from Rotorua.

The G.C.: Nathan "Nate Waii" Waikato, originally from Innisfail.

The G.C.: Jessi Nugent, Property Manager/Glamour model, originally from Toowoomba.

The G.C.: Jade Ruwhiu, Business Owner / Investor, originally from : Havelock North / Hastings

The G.C.: Jade Louise, Singer.

The G.C.: DJ Tuini, originally from Upper Hutt.

The G.C.: Cole Smith

The G.C.: Alby Waititi, Acting Coordinator for a residential care programme for Traumatised Young People, Club trainer and Personal Trainer for my Paddling Club (Te Waka), originally from Cape Runaway, East Coast of NZ.

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Gold Coast tourism representatives are hoping New Zealanders do not get the wrong idea about their area from tawdry new reality TV show The G. C.

Critics had little complimentary to say after Wednesday's first episode of the show which follows a group of young Maori chasing their idea of the Australian dream on the Gold Coast.

The catcalls were all the more shrill because NZ On Air had spent nearly $420,000 of taxpayer money on the show.

Last year 174,000 New Zealanders visited the Gold Coast, making this country the area's largest overseas tourist market.

Gold Coast Tourism chief executive Martin Winter said the series focused on a small segment of the community, and a particular kind of lifestyle which was less mainstream but potentially more entertaining for television audiences.

"We would prefer for The G.C. series to have taken a broader and more positive approach to the city by successfully showing the larger qualities of life in the region and avoid the cliched Jersey Shore format," Winter said.

"But we aren't in the business of television production and we aren't involved in the show, so it is up to the producers to figure that out and to the audiences to make up their own mind."

Despite Winter's concerns, The G.C. is not all bad news for the Gold Coast's tourism industry.

It starts with enticing shots of long, sandy, sunny beaches and the Gold Coast downtown area, which could prove hard to resist for many New Zealanders as the drab hand of winter sends a chill through this part of the world.

The G. C. creator and producer Bailey Mackey said the show was "at the other end of the scale" from the depiction of Maori seen on shows such as Police Ten 7.

Viewers should give it a chance, he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News