Information Response - Email 1 of 2 MCU16/0153 & REC16/0041

3. The specific trend at an SA2 level in terms of occupancy rates and an assessment of this trend.

    FIGURE 1 extends the trend analysis of occupancy rates at the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) level provided within
    the Economic Needs Analysis (Section 4.1) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Tourist
    Accommodation 2015-16. Specifically, the Peregian SA2 has exhibited a declining level of reported
    occupancy compared to the Sunshine Coast Tourism Region, but also relative to the other key tourist
    accommodation areas of Noosa Heads and Noosaville.

    The level of occupancy at any particular facility can be impacted by numerous factors. Within Peregian,
    some of these factors may include:

        •   Increasing and unchecked competition from other forms of accommodation such as holiday
            rentals and industry disruptors like AirBnB, Stayz etc; The New Noosa Plan Discussion Paper
            estimates that a significant proportion of dwellings in Noosa are used for shorter-term
            accommodation;
        •   An ageing of existing stock; impacting upon visitor perceptions of quality and value; and
        •   Operational and management practices of existing facilities.

    The injection of new stock can contribute to addressing falling occupancy rates, with improved marketing
    and promotional strategies, capacity to attract new and underserviced target markets, and in particular,
    the introduction of meeting spaces within the Essence of Peregian development that will encourage the
    attraction of attendees at events and meetings.

    Furthermore, the ABS Tourist Accommodation 2015/16 reports on three establishments in the Peregian
    SA2 with 15 or more rooms available compared with 19 hotels, motels and serviced apartment facilities
    in Noosa Heads, and comprising less than 1% of all the rooms within the Sunshine Coast Tourism Region
    (June 2016).

    The Peregian tourist accommodation market is a small market relative to the overall Sunshine Coast
    market, and whilst the injection of new stock will contribute to arresting declining occupancy rates, the
    performance of the local tourist accommodation market suggests that there is insufficient demand to
    support large scale tourist accommodation facilities in Peregian.

    During 2015/16, the reporting facilities in Peregian represented 0.7% of room nights occupied within the
    Sunshine Coast Tourism Region. If this rate was maintained, demand for some 50 to 100 visitor
    accommodation rooms in motels, hotels and serviced apartments (more than 15 rooms) would be
    supported by 2020/21. However, with investment in new accommodation and facilities elsewhere on the
    Sunshine Coast as well as impacts from other disrupters to the industry, this share is likely to continue to
    decline.



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