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

Many businesses surveyed perceived that the                                 surveyed Queenslanders indicated they couldn’t
existence of tourism allowed for further investment                         think of anywhere they would want to live but their
by public and private sectors. Some businesses                              current residential address).
surveyed believed the benefits of tourism were not
shared equally between business locations.           Many who were surveyed in the Noosa community
                                                     recognised that because of tourism there is an
Events in Noosa had a positive impact on the         increased number of attractions, entertainment,
majority of businesses surveyed that are most        events and facilities that benefit locals and visitors
likely to be impacted by tourism.                    alike. Some of these people, however, thought that
                                                     there was also room for improvement in Noosa’s
Most businesses surveyed that were likely to be      night time entertainment opportunities and ‘value
                               1
directly impacted by tourism indicated that events for money’ of tourism products generally.
produced positive impacts on their turnover. On
average, these businesses indicated that in an event Many residents and businesses surveyed indicated
period, their turnover could increase by around 25 that tourism showcases Noosa and the region in a
percent.                                             positive light – 63 percent of residents indicated that
                                                     tourism had a positive impact on Noosa in this regard,
As would be expected, surveyed businesses that       compared with 52 percent across the Sunshine Coast
were likely to be indirectly impacted by tourism2    generally, and only 41 percent of Queenslanders.
indicated that events had little impact on their
turnover.                                            People surveyed within Noosa generally agreed that
                                                     that as well as assisting the economy, tourism
Only a small proportion of businesses surveyed       enhances Noosa’s reputation regionally, nationally
indicated negative impacts due to events.            and internationally.

Tourism and events contribute to the social and                             Approximately a third of respondents from the
cultural environment of Noosa in a significantly                            residential survey (32 percent) indicated that tourism
positive way.                                                               in Noosa enabled the connection of people that
                                                                            otherwise would not interact. These people
Based on the responses of those surveyed, the                               acknowledged that interacting with people from
appeal of Noosa and the overall aesthetics of the                           other cultures and experience adds depth to the
natural and built environment produces                                      community. The comparable statistics for those living
considerable social benefits.                                               on the Sunshine Coast and Queensland were 16
                                                                            percent and 17 percent respectively.
Nearly 70 percent of residents surveyed in Noosa
indicated that they could not think of anywhere else However, most respondents (over 84 percent)
they wanted to live. This was almost 20 percent      surveyed agreed that tourism can disrupt the lives of
higher than residents surveyed across the Sunshine locals, particularly in relation to traffic, congestion and
Coast generally3, and double the proportion          parking and restricting local’s access to public facilities.
surveyed across Queensland (only 37 percent of


1                                                                           scientific and technical services; administrative and support
    Businesses noted as ‘likely to be directly impacted by tourism’
                                                                            services; education and training; health care and social assistance.
included those businesses identifying as: accommodation services;
retail trade; food services and hospitality; rental, hiring and real
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estate services; and, arts and recreation services.                           It is noted that the resident survey conducted for this study
                                                                            emulated the Tourism and Events Queensland Social Indicators
2                                                                           Study. The latest Social Indicators Report completed for
  Businesses noted as ‘likely to be indirectly impacted by tourism’
                                                                            Queensland as a whole was conducted in 2017 – and these results
included those businesses identifying as: agriculture, forestry and
                                                                            are used as the residential survey comparisons used in the report
fishing; manufacturing; electricity, gas, water and waste water
                                                                            between Noosa, Sunshine Coast and Queensland. The overall
services; transport, postal and warehousing; information, media and
                                                                            comparisons of the questions between the Tourism Noosa Survey
telecommunications; financial and insurance services; professional,
                                                                            (refer Appendix 4) and the TEQ survey can be found in Appendix 6.


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