Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has begged tourists not to cancel their Gold Coast holiday plans in the wake of the Dreamworld tragedy.
The city's theme parks, which attract about 1.8 million visitors annually, had never had a fatality until Tuesday when a catastrophic malfunction killed four adults on Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids ride.
Ms Palaszczuk pleaded with holiday makers not to turn their backs on the tourism-dependent city.
"The Gold Coast is safe," she told the Seven Network on Wednesday, adding that a thorough investigation must head off the risk of similar tragedies in the future.
"Please continue to show your support to the Gold Coast and to Queensland," she urged visitors, when she appeared on the Nine Network.
"Please don't alter your holiday plans. Please continue to show your support. We will get to the bottom of this."
Mayor Tom Tate said Tuesday was a very dark day for the Gold Coast.
"The task will be that these sort of things will not re-occur so that we can earn the trust of Australian people to come back to the Gold Coast and to have those wonderful memories for the rest of their life," he told Seven.
"We have seen some tragedies that hit the Gold Coast. But this is the most emotional."
Gold Coast Tourism declined interview requests but chairman Paul Donovan expressed sympathy for the families.
"As a community the Gold Coast has been deeply saddened by this incident," he said in a statement.
