Gold Coast Commonwealth Games ready to impress

Beaches, theme parks and schoolies week is what the Gold Coast is renowned for.

But come Wednesday it will officially become the host of the 21st Commonwealth Games.

It'll be the fifth time Australia has hosted the event.

Gold Coast's Games will cost $2 billion.

Hosting the Games is seen as a coming of age for Gold Coast as it seeks to move out of the shadow of Brisbane.

"It's all part of a long term planning exercise around diversity. (The Gold Coast) is always seen as a great tourism spot, but it also has a great climate and is a great place for companies to move to so that has been the emphasis for a lot of what we have done," said the chief executive of the Gold Coast Organising Committee Mark Peters.

"We did use the corney phrase of 'coming of age' during our bid process but it's certainly a city of the future and has so many things going for it and that attraction of more business is a key element of that," he said.