Attachment 1 - Needs Assessment Rev 0 11-11-16

2.4       Occupancy Profile
Occupancy rates of available rooms provide an indication of market supply and demand
over time and whether existing stocks of accommodation are sufficient in Noosa Shire to
meet current and future visitor demand. Table 2.4 below outlines the occupancy rates of
selected Statistical Area 2 (SA2) comprising the Noosa area of the Sunshine Coast tourism
region for which ABS Tourist Accommodation data is available.
These are indicative of only parts of the Noosa region, as Noosa North Shore falls within
the Noosa Hinterland SA2 for which data is not available. Total occupancy rates for the
Sunshine Coast and Queensland are included as benchmarks.

Table 2.4: Room Occupancy Rate, Selected Noosa Area SA2s and Sunshine Coast Tourism Region,
2014-2015 Financial Years (Eight Quarters)

                                               Room Occupancy Rate (%)
                         Sept        Dec     Mar    June   Sept     Dec        Mar     June
                         2013        2013    2014   2014   2014     2014       2015    2015    Av.
 Selected SA2
   Noosa Heads             59.4       67.5    61.4        51.4   65.5   71.1    64.4    53.5   61.8
   Noosaville              58.2       60.5    54.3        46.0   66.7   62.2    55.1    46.9   56.2
   Peregian                39.0       47.1    39.3        34.3   49.9   57.9    47.1    43.7   44.8
   Sunshine Beach          58.4       67.3    52.1        45.7   55.2   63.7    53.8    41.1   54.7
 Tourism Region
   Sunshine Coast          56.0       59.1    53.7        46.3   58.9   62.4    56.9    50.8   55.5
   Queensland              67.1       63.4    58.6        58.4   67.3   63.8    58.6    58.1   61.9
Source: ABS, Cat 8635.0 Tourist Accommodation.

With the exception of the Peregian SA2 area, quarterly occupancy rates in Noosa’s tourism
areas mirror those of the broader Sunshine Coast region, with the Noosa Heads area
achieving consistently higher occupancy rates that other Noosa areas.
Given the unique nature of Noosa North Shore and its mix of cabin, caravan and camping
at one end of its accommodation spectrum and the upscale Beach Road Holiday Homes at
the other, direct comparison with other Noosa and Sunshine Coast accommodation markets
and occupancy levels is problematic.


2.4.1     Beach Road Holiday Homes Indicative Occupancy Levels
Discussions with the client indicate rental properties in Beach Road Holiday Homes are
achieving an occupancy rate of below 20% per annum. Although the financial records of
these properties are not publicly available, figures for two houses were provided by the
property owners as examples of the annual occupancy rate achieved by the 22 dwellings
within the central rental pool.
Based on these figures, the average occupancy rate for rental houses was 22.8% per
annum, with an average length of stay for visitors of between 2.4 and 3.4 nights per group.
The occupancy rate generally reflected the traditional holiday trends in visitor volumes, with
a peak of 52.5% in the month of January and a low of 5.4% in July.


                                                     11
Noosa North Shore Needs Assessment
16017 Rev 0 Draft
11 November 2016