Tourism hurting as families avoid eroded beaches on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast for school holidays Beach erosion at Burleigh Heads won't be repaired until after the school holidays. MANY southeast Queensland beaches will remain an erosion-battered mess for the school holidays starting this weekend, with fears it will hurt tourism. Some tourism operators are reporting a slump in bookings as the Gold and Sunshine coasts continue to suffer from some of the worst sand scarping in decades following recent big swells and king tides. More king tides will hit this weekend to coincide with the "super moon," potentially worsening the unsightly and dangerous damage. Massive beach repairs on the Gold and Sunshine coasts will take months and some beach paths remain closed. Burleigh Beach Tower manager Rosemary Wilson said bookings were down. "June's never that crash hot anyway but with the erosion, recent rain and (federal) election uncertainty, it's having an impact," she said. Burleigh surf school operator Michael "Munga" Barry said erosion was "definitely" impacting on business. "Tourists are realising that there's not much sand around and certain beaches are closed," he said. People have slipped and broken bones on erosion cliffs. The weather's beautiful but if you can't get down to your favourite beach, it's a concern. Mr Barry, a former pro surfer, said there needed to be a long-term solution to the Gold Coast's beach erosion, such as a permanent sand pump in Tallebudgera Creek similar to the one in the Tweed River. Burleigh councillor Greg Betts said sand pumping to fix Burleigh beach could not be done in time for the holidays. "It's probably the worst erosion we've had at Burleigh in over 10 years but I don't think it will affect tourism," he said. People will just have to be a little bit more cramped on the beach but it's still beautiful and the tourists will still come. Cr Betts said nothing could be done in the short term to fix badly eroded Nobby and Mermaid beaches. Gold Coast City Council has begun installing almost 300 geo-textile sandbags at Surfers Paradise to try to stabilise the region's most popular beach but the works are not expected to be finished for weeks. Mayor Tom Tate has estimated it will cost $30 million for a long-term beach erosion solution but the State Government has so far refused to help fund the program. Meanwhile, on the Sunshine Coast, work has begun to restore precious sand to Maroochydore beach, hit hard by erosion over the summer storm season. In coming months, more than 125,000 cubic metres of sand will be dredged from the lower Maroochy River and placed on the beach. Sunshine Coast Regional Council project is worth about $1.9 million, including $600,000 for construction of a permanent sand pipeline.