2020-01-13 GC Agenda - Item 10 - Attachment 1 - Report on the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group

What Next?
Tourism Noosa will continue to investigate an Eco-accreditation system for its members. Having such
accreditation may eventually become a precondition of TN membership.
Tourism Noosa will continue to expand upon and roll out sustainability measures to ensure that Noosa
remains a leader of sustainability in the tourism sector.
Noosa Council will continue to support projects and actions that improve the shire’s biodiversity.
TN, Council and Zero Emissions Noosa Inc plus others need to coalesce on a major study that identifies the
actual carbon footprint of visitors to our Shire. That footprint cannot be alleviated and offset without such
data.

6. Day Visitors
Day visitors have come under specific scrutiny by the STSRG.
Data on the year ended 2019 notes that there were 1.164 million overnight visitors and 1.3 million day
visitors to Noosa. These were up by 8% and 17% respectively. In terms of spend, overnight visitors spent
$996.8 million and day visitors spent $98 million. These were up by 18% and down by -6% respectively.
Meanwhile, the SEQ Regional Plan anticipates another 200,000 people on the Sunshine Coast by 2041 and
another 2 million people in SEQ. The implications are that Noosa is likely to experience increasing numbers
of day visitors arising from this population growth on our doorstep.
In turn, increasing numbers of day visitors will likely generate more transport problems, including increased
traffic congestion, as well as increased numbers of people in key precincts, particularly the Main Beach
area. This, in turn, may impact on the overall visitor experience.
It will always be the case that some visitors to Noosa will want to drive in for the day and drive out again.
The question arises as to whether measures could or should be put in place to manage or even limit those
day trippers, for the sake of both resident and visitor amenity. Even if that is a desired goal, the second part
of that equation is whether that is possible and if so, how. Plainly, it is also important to take into account
the economic impact of any such measures. However, as long as visitor numbers keep growing, so too will
businesses capitalising on those increases. It will always be difficult to limit visitor numbers where such
limits negatively impact on existing businesses. Given this truism, it is arguably better to implement
measures to control numbers before those numbers reach an unacceptable level.
Discussions within the STSRG have centred around consideration of a congestion tax, utilising new
technology including vehicle recognition to place limits on vehicle access, and analysis of alternative
transport solutions.
Responses:
Tourism Noosa takes a “value over volume” approach to its marketing strategy. All of its marketing is aimed
at interstate or international visitors to Noosa, and no marketing is pitched at day visitors. This approach
recognises that overnight visitors offer a better return for the advertising dollar and are the key component
of Noosa’s tourism strategy.
Noosa Council has been looking into a range of new technologies in relation to transport initiatives.
Noosa Parks Association is doing their own research on visitors (see more under Acceptable Limits).
What Next?
Consideration will be given to transport initiatives to help manage day visitor numbers.
It may be that both Tourism Noosa and Noosa Council need to do more qualitative and quantitative
research into day visitor numbers and the impacts of day visitors?




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