Appendix G Economic Study - 14-16 Mary Street, Noosaville - Bounce Hostels 15.6.2018

2 Backpacking in Context

Backpacking and the associated ‘adventure tourism’ range of activities is a growing
market segment globally and plays an important role in Australia’s overall tourism
sector. Unsurprisingly, it is also an important component of the Noosa tourism industry.
This section places backpacking in Noosa into context, focusing on core statistics in
relation to visitations and accommodation, before broadening out to contextualise the
sector vis-à-vis the Shire’s regional economic strategic frame.

2.1 Sector Dynamics
2.1.1 Visitors and Accommodation
Tourism is a key component of the Noosa regional economy.
According to the Noosa Economic Profile 2017 Update prepared by Lucid Economics
for Noosa Shire Council, 1 for the year ending September 2017, overnight visitation
generated an estimated $715m for the Noosa regional economy.
Add to this day trip visitors, the total visitor spend was over $842m. On this basis, Lucid
Economics comments that, “overnight visitation directly contributes 9.2% of total GRP
and 12.7% of total employment, which is more than double the rates at the State level.
Including day trip visitors, tourism directly contributes 10.6% to GRP and 14.9% to
employment, which makes it a significant contributor to the local economy” (p. 37).
For the year ending September 2017, the Noosa region welcomed over 2 million
overnight and day-trip visitors. These visitors spent approximately $285m in the year
to September 2017. The following table summarises that visitor statistics.




1
  Source:
https://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/documents/40217326/40227860/Noosa%20Economic%20Profile%202017%20Feb%2
02018



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