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

Visitor Survey

A visitors survey via face to face questionnaires was also conducted as part of this commission.
The questions included centred around the following areas:

    •   Demographic questions, including where visitors lived and their family
        characteristics;
    •   Purpose & Behaviour, including why visitors came to Noosa, modes of transport to
        Noosa in particular, where visitors were staying, where they intended to visit, and
        expenditure when in Noosa;
    •   Awareness, regarding how they knew about Noosa; and,
    •   The qualities visitors consider important for a holiday and the levels of satisfaction
        with Noosa with regard to these factors.

Visitor surveys were randomly conducted from three areas – Hastings Street, Noosa National Park
and Noosa Marina. The survey conducted over a period of 3 weeks throughout the week and
weekends. A total of 168 responses were obtained. Given results were analysed utilising the
whole sample, rather than through stratification, analyses are considered statistically robust.

The characteristics of visitors’ that participated in the survey are included in Appendix 4.
This shows that there was a spread of visitors that:

    •   Came from various areas across Qld and the globe - including people from the local
        area, other Sunshine Coast residents, other South East Queenslanders, Other
        Queenslanders, Interstate and International visitors;
    •   Were in Noosa for different lengths of time – including day trippers versus overnight
        stayers versus visitors staying longer than overnight;
    •   Were from variety of different travel type groups – from people travelling alone, to
        those travelling with their significant other, and/or families (with and without
        children) or friends;
    •   Were from a variety of age groups and household types; and
    •   Were spread relatively evenly between males and females.

Chi square analysis and Cramers V examinations were conducted on crosstabulations to test for
statistical significance between the proportional outcomes associated with differences between
gender, age group, type of visitor (i.e. day tripper versus, overnight stays and longer stays) and
residential location of the visitor. Independent t-tests and ANOVA analyses were conducted to
test for statistical significance between the mean outcomes associated with differences between
the above characteristics.

The analysis found that there were very few statistical differences for gender, with the only
significant differences being in relation to the importance of certain qualities when planning a
trip, and subsequent quality of the various elements in Noosa. There were a number of statistical
differences between outcomes for different the types of visitors (i.e. day trippers versus overnight
versus longer stayers), and differences between opinions of people based on their residential
address (including the number of visits to Noosa in the last 12 months, the amount spent on their
visit, elements that were considered important when planning a trip and also some components
of satisfaction with the characteristics of different elements in Noosa). Outcomes by age group
were only statistically different for the number of visits to Noosa in the last 12 months, and the
amount spent on their visit. The output associated with all analyses is provided in the Section 4.
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