2020-01-13 GC Agenda - Item 10 - Attachment 2 - The Value of Tourism to the Noosa Community October 2019 FINAL REPORT

6.       Residents’ Views of Tourism
As noted in Section 2, a residential CATI survey was conducted by Q&A Research with 300
residents across Noosa to determine their views on a number of issues associated with how
they feel about their local area, and specific information on their perceptions of tourism
impacts.

The sample size of 300 for Noosa is statically valid as can be demonstrated through a
comparison with the sample size utilised for the TEQ Social Indicators Survey. The TEQ
Social Indicators Survey, a highly respected survey, utilises a 300 across the whole of the
Sunshine Coast Tourism Region. Thus, given that the Noosa Shire is only a portion of this,
the sample size used in the Tourism Noosa survey was over 6 times the size of the TEQ
sample size for the Sunshine Coast14.

Survey respondents were stratified according to age and location:
    • Age groups:
           o Under 30 years of age – 59 respondents
           o 30-64 year olds – 121 respondents
           o 65 year olds and over – 120 respondents
    • Residential Location:
           o Coastal/Eastern Beaches (Peregian to Sunshine) – 79 respondents
           o Noosa Heads & Noosaville – 127 respondents
           o Tewantin – 51 respondents
           o Hinterland/North Shore (Cooroy to Kin Kin) – 43 respondents

Statistical differences were tested through Chi Square and Cramers V tests but few statistical
differences between residential locations in Noosa found. There were a number of
statistical differences between age groups, and a few statistical differences between views
from different family type and length of time spent living in Noosa. Where statistical
differences between categories were found, they are commented upon in the discussion
below.

The survey of Noosa residents used the same questions and format of the Tourism and
Events Queensland (TEQ) Social Indicators survey to enable comparison of Noosa resident’s
perceptions against, the wider Sunshine Coast region15 and Qld. The output from the survey
is indicated below, and a full comparison between Tourism Noosa’s survey and TEQ’s results
for the Sunshine Coast and Queensland is provided in Appendix 6.

Residents’ feeling about their local area

Of the 300 respondents in the resident’s survey, 68 percent indicated that they really liked
living in Noosa, and could not imagine living elsewhere. This is a much higher percentage

14
  Furthermore, for a population of around 52,000 (Noosa’s population), a sample of around 270 is
considered statistically valid for a confidence level of 95 percent and margin of error 6 percent (Survey
Monkey Sample Calculator).

15
  It is noted that TEQ’s area ‘Sunshine Coast’ refers to the Sunshine Coast region, as opposed to the
Sunshine Coast Council area. As such, outcomes attributed to the Sunshine Coast includes Noosa
residents too.

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