Experience Gold Coast
Redefining how locals and visitors discover the Gold Coast
The Experience Gold Coast app was designed to help locals and visitors easily explore everything the Gold Coast has to offer. From finding upcoming events and booking tickets to discovering local attractions, deals, and experiences, the app brings it all together in one place. It acts as a digital guide to the region, making it simple to plan, explore, and enjoy the best of the coast.
Project Overview
We partnered with Experience Gold Coast to bring their official app to life across iOS and Android. The app helps locals and visitors discover the best of the Gold Coast, from events and attractions to ticketed experiences, all in one place. We used React Native for a smooth cross platform experience, backed by a Node.js backend on Azure. AI powered search, driven by OpenAI, made content discovery smarter. Our team handled everything from product design and development to testing, app store launch, and post launch support.
Lets take a look
The Brief
Experience Gold Coast (EGC), the city’s official destination marketing organisation, approached Spritely with an ambitious brief: design and build a world-class app that brings the entire Gold Coast to your fingertips.
At the time, EGC was already managing multiple data sources, including a large database of activities, places to stay, events, and deals. But the challenge wasn’t just aggregating this information, it was designing a completely new way to discover the Gold Coast.
We didn’t want to replicate what search engines or travel sites were already doing. We wanted something unique, meaningful, and more personal. The goal was to create a discovery experience that reflected the city’s cultural evolution. Something dynamic, local, and genuinely helpful for both visitors and residents.
Our Approach
Our solution was to introduce a content-led framework. We designed a system that puts user-generated content, what we call Shared Experiences, at the heart of the app. These authentic posts from locals and visitors add meaning and context to the dataset.
Each experience is then enriched with detailed business listings, event data, and location metadata. This allows our AI-powered search and travel assistant “Goldie” to rank results not by generic relevance, but by real user sentiment and engagement.
From day one, our team leaned into what makes the Gold Coast special: its people, its stories, and its sense of place. The result is a discovery engine that learns, improves, and evolves with every new piece of content.
The Impact
The Experience Gold Coast App launched in July 2025 ahead of Bleach Festival* and is already changing how people explore the city.
What sets this project apart is the deep collaboration between EGC and the Spritely team. From research and user testing to design, AI integration, and launch support. We’ve worked hand-in-hand to build something that doesn’t just inform, it inspires.
Key features
AI Assistant “Goldie”
A conversational AI that helps users explore things to do, places to stay, and upcoming events. Powered by content & machine learning.
Smart Search & Discovery
Designed to serve relevant recommendations based on real user experiences, not just business listings.
Integrated Event Listings & Ticketing
Seamlessly connects to live events, including Bleach* Festival and Groundwater Country Music Festival.
User-Generated Content
Creators and locals can submit experiences and tag favourites, helping shape what gets discovered in-app.
Discover by Region
Users can discover all there is to do in a specific region of the Gold Coast.
Find Amazing Deals
Deals across thousands of activities and places to stay.
Tech Stack
Frontend
React Native
Backend
Node.js
Cloud
Microsoft Azure
AI
OpenAI APIs
& LLM-tuned Search
CMS
Sitecore Integration
Design
Figma
What We’re Most Proud Of
“Being locals, most of our team grew up on the Gold Coast, so it’s been a real honour to help bring this app to life. Over the years, we’ve seen the city grow into a vibrant, cultural destination, and we’ve built the app through that lens – locals who know and love the Coast and what it has to offer. We’ve built a strong foundation, and what excites us most is seeing how it continues to grow from here. Especially with content creators playing a key role in helping people discover the best of the Gold Coast through their own stories and experiences.”
— Scott MacKenzie, Director at Spritely
Let’s build your vision.
Get in touch with us today and bring your vision to reality. We have worked with customers Australian-wide. Providing mobile app design and development for customers in Goldcoast, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.