2019-02-12 Attachment 1 to Item 7 - Short Term Accom Online Platform Issues Paper

The impact of overtourism is best described as a chain of impact – as regions transform to cater for
tourists, the tourism industry prospers, coinciding with infiltration of tourists into previously pure
residential areas, increasing property prices and raising costs of living for local communities.
Ultimately, the level of tourism becomes unsustainable as residents and workers leave, the cost of
products and services is too high, the tourism reputation of a region is qualitatively decremented,
and the region then can no longer support the level of tourism.

Key indicators of overtourism are:
   Strained local amenities and infrastructure.
   Road and traffic congestion.
   Residents priced out of the home rental and ownership market.
   Residents displaying lack of tolerance for the tourism sector and visitors.

The Noosa shire may not yet be experiencing overtourism, as the benefits of tourism arguably still
outweigh the problems caused by the rapid rise of short-term rental accommodation. However, some
of the key indicators of this phenomenon are clearly apparent, and the legislative, planning and
regulatory environment has not yet recognised or adopted necessary limitations to tourism
expansion. Furthermore, there are a number of projects and strategies that are focussed on tourism
growth, including the key goals of the Noosa Tourism Strategy 2017-2022 and the Sunshine Coast
Airport Expansion Project.

It is noted that Council has established the ‘Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group’ to
consider these issues. The group includes peak bodies representing business, resident and
environmental interests, as well as Tourism Noosa. The group has been meeting since mid-2018.


4.1.2    Tourism Gentrification
Tourism gentrification can be defined as a process of socio-spatial change in which neighbourhoods
are transformed according to the needs of affluent consumers and visitors 10. Whilst gentrification is
usually related to the process by which middle income earners move into a lower income earning
area and displace the community, the effects of tourists and visitors moving into these areas is also
considered a gentrifying process.

A key aspect of the transformation of neighbourhoods is displacement of residents, particularly lower
income earners relying on affordable rental accommodation stock. This is occurring in Noosa, as
tourism driven gentrification is supported by the facilitation of a rapid rise in consumer uptake of
short-term rental of properties within residential neighbourhoods. The actual gentrification is driven
by both the dynamics of the housing market (increasing prices and reduced affordability) and the
changing nature and use of neighbourhoods.

In the process of tourism gentrification, residential areas undergo a degree of commercial upgrading
and consequential transformation into spaces for entertainment and consumption. The
transformation of uses and users in neighbourhoods causes residents to leave, as tourism
gentrification is an exclusion mechanism that constrains the quality of life for residents10. Tourism
gentrification, enabled and encouraged by short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, has significant
potential to mutate how a neighbourhood is used and by whom, including loss of services which low
income residents rely on for their everyday life, such as access to public space and affordable
services.




Short Term Accommodation - Online Platform Response Issues Paper                              Page 10