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

    Approximately a third of respondents from the residential survey (32 percent)
    indicated that tourism in Noosa enabled the connection of people that otherwise
    would not interact. These people acknowledged that interacting with people from
    other cultures and experience adds depth to the community. The comparable
    statistics for those living on the Sunshine Coast and Queensland were 16 percent and
    17 percent respectively.


•   Tourism is generally sensitive to the environment, but there is room for
    improvement:

    Noosa’s policy environment acknowledges the need for environmental sensitivity,
    and Noosa’s visitors and residents surveyed acknowledges that businesses do
    implement environmental measures. Nonetheless, this is an area that could be
    improved, both in practice for businesses and in perception for the wider
    community.

    Overall, 23 percent of people surveyed would like to see tourism growth in Noosa in
    more environmentally responsive directions. For those people aged under 30 years
    of age, 44 percent held this view. By comparison, only 5 percent of Sunshine Coast
    residents and 7 percent of Queensland residents felt this way about tourism.
    Environmentally responsive policies and tourism directions are clear areas of focus
    for Tourism Noosa and Noosa Council – evidenced through the establishment of the
    Sustainable Tourism Reference Group.


•   Tourism does have unintended negative consequences in Noosa, but the impact on
    the community and individuals for most of these elements is relatively low:

    The largest negative impacts on the community from tourism highlighted by this
    study were associated with congestion/car parking and housing affordability. Noosa
    Shire’s policies and strategies acknowledge these issues and there are many
    initiatives in place.

    With regard to congestion and parking, amongst other things, Council has developed
    a transport strategy, a transport reference group, and is working on a range of
    actions and initiatives to improve transport choice and accessibility throughout the
    Shire and key popular areas.

    With regard to affordable housing, Council’s Draft Noosa Plan is underpinned by a
    housing needs analysis, which seeks to address, amongst other things, issues around
    housing choice and affordability through increasing medium and high density
    housing options and providing incentives for developers to produce smaller
    dwellings in areas proximate to activity centres.

    Other less mentioned negative impacts identified by those surveyed included some
    level of inappropriate behaviour and increased litter and noise associated with
    tourism activity. The perceived impacts of these on the individual were quite low,
    but are still worth monitoring over time.


                                         59