GOLD COAST NAMED FIRST WORLD KINDNESS CITY

Australia's premier holiday destination, Gold Coast, has been named the first World Kindness City. The World Kindness Association (WKA) bestowed the honour on the City of Gold Coast at a special ceremony in Seoul, South Korea.

WKA head Michael Lloyd-Wright said the association had been monitoring several cities and the Gold Coast was the first to really 'walk the walk, not just talk the talk' when it came to kindness. 

"The Gold Coast has now set the bar for other cities around the world," he said. 

The honour comes after five years of the City of Gold Coast council working with WKA. 

Mayor Tom Tate led the initiative and council representative Cr Glenn Tozer is the city's Kindness Ambassador. 

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter says being known as the world's kindest city is appropriate for a destination that welcomes some 13 million tourists and visitors a year to its idyllic beachside offering. 

"It's a great compliment to the residents and businesses here too," Mr Winter said. "As we prepare for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in April this award really lays down the red carpet of welcome to visitors." 

The Commonwealth Games will be held April 4-15 attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and drawing a broadcast audience of 1 billion people globally. 

The Gold Coast has a population of 600,000 and is Australia's sixth largest city.