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

Executive Summary
In July 2018, Tourism Noosa, in conjunction with            Key Findings
Noosa Council, commissioned C Change
Sustainable Solutions Pty Ltd (C Change) and SGS            Based on the research conducted, it can be
Economics and Planning to determine the value               concluded that tourism is Noosa’s most valuable
and impact of tourism on the Noosa Community.               industry sector, and that the surveyed
The report was commissioned to provide input                community perceive substantial benefits from
into the community, council and business                    Tourism. Respondents also indicated negative
deliberations on Sustainable Tourism and what               impacts in a limited number of areas, but the
that means for Noosa.                                       personal impacts of those surveyed were
                                                            considered relatively low. Key components of
In particular, the report focussed on the following
                                                            these statements are discussed below:
areas:
•    The economic impact of tourism on Noosa                1. Tourism is Noosa’s number one industry sector
     Shire’s economy;                                       and has important flow on impacts across the
•    The perceived benefits of tourism to the               Shire.
     community as well as unintended negative
     impacts;                                               Table A: The economic value of tourism in Noosa 2016/17
•    Community attitudes to tourism in Noosa,
                                                             Measure                         Direct            Indirect           Total
     based on social indicators in the Tourism and           Employment (total)              3,677              2,108            5,785
     Events Queensland’s “Social Indicators 2017”            Employment (FTE)                2,648              1,944            4,592
     report; and                                             Output/Sales                 $481 million       $525 million      $1.0 billion
•    Visitor experiences at key sites in Noosa.              Value-Added to GRP           $262 million       $251 million     $513 million
                                                            Source: National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) 2016.
                                                            Compiled by id, verified by SGS Economics and Planning (2019).
As well as review the overall contribution of tourism
to the Australian and Queensland economies, the
consultants also:                                           In 2016/17, tourism provided considerable value added
•    Reviewed the Noosa’s research and analysis to          to the Noosa economy ($513 million – direct and indirect
     date on the value of tourism;                          impact), and was the number one industry sector in
•    Reviewed the policy environment as it related          Noosa.
     to tourism and events;
•    Conducted statistically valid surveys with             Tourism creates substantial jobs for the Region (5,785
     Noosa businesses (n= 176) and residents (n=            direct and indirect ‘total’ jobs, or 4,592 direct and
     300); and,                                             indirect FTE jobs.
•    Conducted statistically valid visitor surveys at
     three of Noosa’s main tourism areas (n= 168).          There are significant flow on or indirect benefits through
                                                            industry linkages and consumption impacts ($251 million
With the exception of the economic value of                 in value-added to the economy).
tourism, it is important to note that the study was
focussed on community / business / visitor                  The significant impact of tourism was reinforced by the
perceptions of impacts as opposed to actual                 business survey results completed for this study. This
impacts.                                                    indicated that 75 percent of businesses would be less
                                                            profitable without tourists, and of these, 42 percent
                                                            indicated that they would cease operations without the
                                                            tourist trade.


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