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

Table 15: Summary of Noosa’s Social Benefits associated with Tourism

 Potential Social              Evidence of Benefit in Noosa:
 Benefits                      Results from Analyses:

 •   Increased number of       üüü      •   Business Survey: On average, regardless of direct or indirect
     attractions,                           impact of tourism, businesses in Noosa acknowledged that the
     entertainment,                         number of attractions, entertainment, events and facilities would
     events and facilities                  not be as appealing if tourism was not present in the community.
     that can benefit locals                Over half of the businesses surveyed indicated that events in
     and visitors                           Noosa helps to increase their profitability. The average increase of
                                            turnover for businesses from events was 25 percent across
                                            businesses (with 30 percent for businesses likely to be directly
                                            impacted by tourism, and 9 percent for those indirectly impacted
                                            by tourism). Without prompting, approximately 28 percent of
 •   The chance for an         üüü
     area to show case its                  businesses indicated that tourism assist with promoting the areas,
     culture and history,                   and as acknowledged above, on average, businesses agreed that a
     solidify identity and                  higher level of spending from the Shire as well as private industry
     increase the sense of                  occurs due to the substantial numbers of tourists. Although no
     pride associated with                  direct acknowledgement of the provision of jobs for youth and
     an area                                local people, suburban and coastal businesses did note, on
                                            average, that tourism helps assist attract and retain good staff.

                                        •   Resident Survey: Residents generally agreed that tourism brought
 •   Increased interactions    üü           a number of social benefits to Noosa. Between 80 percent and 94
     between local                          percent of respondents agreed that because of tourism and
     communities and                        events, Noosa experiences: more people from different
     visitors, which can                    backgrounds and cultures; an increase in awareness from people
     add value and depth                    outside the region; higher property values, and more business and
     to the extent of                       employment opportunities; higher levels of pride in area and
     cultural experiences                   region; and better shopping, dining and/or recreational
     and knowledge                          opportunities in the region. Over half of the residents surveyed
                                            indicated that they personally interacted with tourists, either
 •   The provision of a        üü           through their jobs or simply due to the tourists being in Noosa,
     number of jobs and                     with people under 30 years of age most likely to remain friends
     training for certain                   with tourists.
     demographic groups,
     particularly youth and             •   Visitors Survey: Results from the visitor survey indicated that
     locally employed                       most respondents were coming to Noosa for a holiday. Almost all
     people.                                visitors (94 percent) indicated that the beaches were one of the
                                            key reasons they were attracted to Noosa. Other popular reasons
                                            for Noosa included having a chance to relax (64 percent), visiting
                                            the National Park (58 percent), the food and restaurants (46
                                            percent), outdoor activities / adventures (33 percent) and the river
                                            (28 percent). Visitors were not specifically asked about their level
                                            of interaction with locals, but on average, most people agreed that
                                            there were friendly locals.




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