the name Gold Coast The South Coast region was a very popular holiday destination for servicemen returning from World War II. However, inflated prices for real estate and other goods and services led to the nickname of "Gold Coast" from 1950. South Coast locals initially considered the name "Gold Coast" derogatory. However, soon the "Gold Coast" simply became a convenient way to refer to the holiday strip from Southport to Coolangatta. As the tourism industry grew into the 1950s, local businesses began to adopt the term in their names, and on 23 October 1958 the South Coast Town Council was renamed "Gold Coast Town Council". The area was proclaimed a city less than one year later. Specific Gold Coast areas became the holiday destinations for many who lived inland. Coolangatta had a caravan and camping park on the New South Wales border and numerous families from Ipswich spent their Christmas holidays there. In later times, many holiday rental flats sprung up in the area. The Ipswich roots remain as the Currumbin Lifesavers, share with a similar Ipswich swimming club the title 'Vikings'. Many Vikings swimming club members joined the life saving squads at Currumbin during the holiday periods. Direct flights from Sydney to Coolangatta began in 1956. The first town planning on the Gold Coast began with the 1953 South Coast Planning Scheme. It featured height controls that restricted development towards strategic nodes. By the 1960s the Gold Coast's infrastructure had grown considerably, and the local building industry was able to support the development of high-rise holiday apartments and hotels (the first of which, Kinkabool, was completed in 1959). Surfers Paradise had firmly established itself as the leading destination and the introduction of bikini-clad meter maids in 1965 to feed parking meters by the beach to prevent holiday makers from getting parking fines was a particularly popular innovation. In 1965, the World water skiing championships were held at the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens, now known as Sea World. This was the first international event held on the coast. The hi-rise boom continued in earnest during the 1970s and by the time the Gold Coast Airport terminal opened in Coolangatta in 1981, the region had become Australia's most well-known family holiday destination and much of the vacant land within of the coast had been developed. Japanese property investment during the 1980s made the skyline soar, and the construction of modern theme