(Photo: Andrew Roberts)
A Community-Centric Approach
At its heart, Noosa is a community first and an attractive tourism destination second.
By prioritising what residents value and our environment, we create an attractive relaxed and welcoming place for residents and visitors alike. This is how many of us fell in love with Noosa in the first place.
And through Destination Management Plan (DMP) feedback we’ve heard that Noosa’s evolution and authenticity as a quality destination can only occur through respect for our environment and community.
Tourism governance arrangements are up for review as part of the DMP.
For six years, I was the council’s liaison/observer on the Tourism Noosa Board and have respect and understanding for their role in creating the internationally recognized Noosa brand.
For years they have taken the value-over-volume/quality-over-quantity approach and targeted the interstate and overseas, high-yield /high spend visitor who tends to fly in and not contribute to the congestion by driving.
I am concerned that without any sort of targeted marketing by a professional body that Noosa, by default, risks becoming a high-volume, low-value drive destination only.
Feedback from public consultation on the Destination Management Plan (DMP) indicates we want to actively attract visitors who respect and are prepared to “put back into” our environment, public spaces and community.
Events were traditionally scheduled to create activity in quiet periods. Do we need as many now that every weekend is a busy one?
As highlighted by the DMP, the identity of Noosa as a community and a tourism destination depends on;
- What actions we collectively take to be responsible custodians of our shire
- How we manage visitation to reduce impacts on residents and the environment
- How we change current practices so the future is better than the current situation.
- How we identify who is responsible for what in terms of managing the tourism industry.
These questions will guide the creation of key actions in the DMP, to be finalised by the new council after the election.
