TOURISM NOOSA STRATEGY 2023-2027 · Destination Noosa Strategy 2023-27_V30

N O O S A’ S V I S I T O R M A R K E T                                                        Fig 2. Visitation to Noosa year ending March 2023


The Noosa region attracted just over 2 million visitors in the
year ending March 2023, including domestic overnight visitors and                                                                 Visitors                   Nights                   Spend
day-trippers, for a record $1.7B (Figures 1-4).
                                                                                                    Domestic
While visitor numbers are about 10% higher than the previous year,                                                             1,005,000                  3,894,000                  $1.562B
                                                                                                    overnight
they are about 6% lower than pre-COVID 2019, due to the lack of
data from international travellers, which is still at low numbers.                                   Day trip                   1,166,000                         –                  $142.9M

Total visitor spend increased almost 50% on the previous year, and                                      Total                   2,171,000                 3,894,000                  $1.7047B
more than 80% compared to 2019. These figures have seen our share
of Queensland’s domestic visitor nights and spend increase over
the past four years.

Our marketing encourages visitors to explore the entire Noosa                                 Fig 3. Visitors to Noosa                                   Fig 4. Visitor spend in Noosa
region, from beaches to river and hinterland, and we work with                                Domestic
                                                                                              overnight                                                   Domestic
members to promote their various activities.                                                                                                              overnight
                                                                                              1,005,000
                                                                                                                                                          $1.562 B
                                                                                                 46%
                                                                                                                                                            92%
Tourism Noosa’s long-term strategy of attracting high-value,
low-volume visitation has been extremely successful:


Fig 1. Domestic overnight visitors and spend

1800

1600
                                                                             DOMESTIC                                              Day Trip
1400                                                                                                                              1,166,000                                                  Day trip
                                                                             OVERNIGHT
                                                                           VISITORS (’000)                                           54%                                                     $142.9 M
1200                                                                                                                                                                                           8%
                                                                                 since 2017
1000
                                                                                      15%
800

600                                                                                                          Fig 5. Change in domestic overnight visitation
400                                                                                                                   and spend since March 2019
                                                                              DOMESTIC
200                                                                           OVERNIGHT
                                                                                                                     Visitors                                               Spend
                                                                              SPEND ($M)
   0                                                                             since 2017
       2017      2018      2019     2020      2021     2022      2023                                                                                          91%
                                                                                      129%
Source: Tourism Research Australia National Visitor Surveys, year ending March 2023

                                                                                              70
                                                                                                                                                                             58.7%
                                                                                              60
Overnight visitors                                                                            50                                                                                           45%

Tourism Noosa focuses its marketing on overnight travellers as they                           40

spend more in local businesses than day trippers (average spend                               30

per person is $1,554 compared to $123).                                                       20

                                                                                              10         4.6%           5.6%          2.6%
The overnight visitor market continues to bounce back since the                                0
relaxation of border restrictions, with numbers almost 5% above                               -10
                                                                                                                             Noosa             Queensland              Australia
the March 2019 figure (which included international visitors), and
spend almost doubling to $1.56B, a record for a year ending March.                                    *Excludes 4 regions where comparisons from 2019-2021 are not available

Compared to last year, domestic overnight spend is almost 50%
higher, while numbers remained steady.

Noosa’s domestic overnight spend results are stronger than or on
                                                                                                                        Fig 6. Average spend per person
par with results for Queensland and Australia (Figure 5).

                                                                                                        Average spend
Interstate and intrastate visitors                                                                                                             YE Mar 2023                    Pre-COVID
                                                                                                          per person
Interstate visitors have traditionally been our focus for marketing
                                                                                                       Interstate visitor                     $2,232 +82%                           $1,224
as they stay longer and spend more than Queensland visitors on
attractions, tours, dining, retail and entertainment (Figure 6).
                                                                                                            Qld visitor                        $1,065 +73%                          $617
Interstate visitors spent a record $939.7 million during the year, more
than double their spend from pre-COVID March 2019, and double                                 Source: Tourism Research Australia National Visitor Survey, year ending March 2023.

last year’s total. They account for 60% of the overnight visitor spend
in Noosa. However, Queenslanders have also significantly increased
their average spend since the pandemic.



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