2020-03-19 Mayoral Minute - COVID-19

Funding Deed
The current Funding Deed between Council and Tourism Noosa commenced on 1 July 2017. That
Funding Deed regulates payments to Tourism Noosa. Clause 7 of the Deed provides as follows:

7.    MARKETING CASH CONTINGENCY
(a)   Tourism Noosa will maintain a Marketing Cash Contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency
      Reserve) in its balance sheet which will be no less than $350,000 and maintain the cash balance
      in addition to other working capital requirements throughout the term of the Agreement, subject to
      7(b).
(b)   This Marketing Cash Contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency Reserve) may be used for
      marketing activity required outside of that outlined in the Business Plan in the event that additional
      marketing funding is required. Tourism Noosa must consult with and have approval from Council
      prior to the marketing cash contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency Reserve) being
      accessed or reduced below $350,000. This
The background to this clause is that the Council CEO required that Tourism Noosa maintain a reserve
for unexpected events that will require a response. This was originally envisaged to be needed in the
event that we had another GFC, a series of natural disasters, a pilot strike or the like. A global pandemic
was not envisaged but is obviously an event that falls squarely within this category to trigger access to
these reserves. In practice, the reserve is held within Tourism Noosa’s balance sheet and they cannot
access it unless they have the approval of Council.
Tourism Noosa has now written to the Council CEO requesting approval to access the full amount of the
Marketing Contingency Reserve. This is the first such request since the reserve was established. The
CEO has advised the Mayor that it is certainly appropriate in the circumstances for Tourism Noosa to
access the Contingency Reserve. Indeed, there could be no more clear circumstance where access to
the Contingency Reserve would be required
Tourism Noosa have raised the following issues for Council’s consideration of this request:
     Due to the coronavirus outbreak, they have made the difficult decision to cancel the Noosa Eat and
      Drink Festival (formerly the Food and Wine Festival). A significant amount of marketing had been
      undertaken for this event with those costs unable to be recovered due to event cancellation and
      loss of ticket sales (which are being refunded).
     Tourism Noosa are not proposing to immediately undertake additional marketing as the timing is
      not right, but they are planning for this to occur and require access to the reserve funds for ongoing
      work by the organisation. Tourism Noosa will work with industry representatives to develop
      marketing plans for the recovery phase. They will also consult with Council on timing and approach
      to this issue. This will be an important facet of Noosa’s recovery from the economic impacts of
      COVID-19.
     Tourism Noosa, like other organisations and businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, are
      revisiting their activities to ensure they retain focus on their core role and that their cost structures
      are sustainable.
Accordingly, the motion above is to authorise the CEO to advise Tourism Noosa that they can access the
Marketing Contingency Reserve in accordance with Clause 7 of the Noosa Council/Tourism Noosa
Funding Deed.




                                                          19 March 2020

Cr Tony Wellington                                        Date