By Margie Maccoll
Noosa Wave Boating Adventures operator Andrew Burt cranked up the engines on his wave rider boat and took it for a spin on Tuesday for the first time since March ready for the tourists to turn up.
His was one of many local businesses and tour operators boosted by the news from Queensland Government of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions from Monday.
The Stage 2 restrictions allow unlimited travel and overnight stays for all Queenslanders within the state and gatherings of up to 20 people.
Classed as non-essential travel Andrew’s whale and dolphin boating adventures have been unable to operate under previous restrictions.
“It’s been totally devastating for us,” he said. “I had to lock the boat and put all the covers on.”
Burt said at this time of year his clients are usually made up of a mix of holidaymakers from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and New Zealand.
“With holidays coming up I don’t know what it’s going to be like,” he said.
Burt said as migrating whale numbers were increasing the whale season had been extending.
Already the first whales of the season were spotted in the area a week ago and Burt said by July “a lot of whales” can be seen travelling through.
Burt said he would have to reduce the number of passengers on his boat to adhere to Covid-19 restrictions but was hopeful of receiving bookings.
Holiday Homes @ Noosa principal Glenn McClellan said they’d had some inquiries for holiday accommodation but it hadn’t yet “taken off”.
“We’ll probably get bookings over the weekend. We don’t expect it to go nuts until the holidays,” he said.
“These holidays are generally populated with people from the south getting away from the cold. Queenslanders make up about 30 per cent.”
Glen said many of their holiday homes had taken the opportunity to renovate over the break and had been taken by surprise by the restrictions lifting earlier than anticipated.
He said he expected families would be reluctant to take their children out of school to go on holiday when they had missed so much school this year.
A Peregian Beach Hotel spokeswoman said it would take them some time to reopen but they were excited and pleased the restrictions had eased earlier than expected and hoped to open soon.
“We’re a big venue. We can’t just flick a switch and reopen,” she said.
She said equipment that had been shut down would need to be restarted and the Queensland Hotel Association was yet to issue them with a Covid-19 safe plan.
Noosa Chamber of Commerce president Murray Brown said he could only assume people would be pleased with the easing of restrictions and anticipated capacity to be more than 30 per cent during the school holidays.
Mr Brown said some accommodation places had reported having 30 per cent capacity this weekend and were 100 per cent booked for Christmas.
He said some had chosen to renovate during the forced break and were not ready for the earlier opening while others were still negotiating staff and clarifying Covid-safe legislation.
He said he expected a few negatives with people arriving by car not plane bringing increased traffic congestion and restaurants struggling to make a profit with limits of only 20 customers.
“We’ve got a way to go but it’s a good step in the right direction,” he said.
Tourism Noosa is now working on a new two-year strategic vision to rebuild post Covid-19, in vast contrast to the situation just 12 months ago.
Last year Noosa Council was looking to manage a “building tsunami” of tourists causing traffic congestion and an overcrowded Main Beach with solutions including limits on events, paid parking and short-term rental restrictions.
“We went from record-breaking visitors last year to record-breaking zero, from the very best to the very worst” Tourism Noosa CEO Melanie Johnson said.
“It’s been quite devastating for businesses in Noosa.”
In 2019 Noosa was visited by more than 2.5 million overnight and day-trip visitors who spent a record $1.2 billion, which marked an increase of almost 30 per cent on the previous year.
Of the visitors about 50 per cent came from Queensland, 35 per cent of those from Brisbane, 36 per cent from interstate and about 25 per cent from overseas with most from the UK, New Zealand and Europe, particularly Germany.
Tourism Noosa has been forced to think outside the square to attract tourists and refocus from its previous target on interstate and international visitors, which had brought results.
Last year interstate visitors who stay longer and spend more spent $660 million in Noosa, a 70 per cent increase on the previous year and the international spend of $113 million was a 32 per cent increase on 2018.
“We had to be agile and move into a rethink,” Melanie said.
“COVID-19 and travel restrictions has literally changed tourism in our country and for Noosa, our
current plan with a focus on interstate and international travellers is simply not possible at this point in time.”
Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart said domestic tourism would be a vital part of Noosa’s economic recovery post Covid-19.
“We expect many tourists will look to travel locally as soon as they can, so it’s critical that the industry as a whole work collaboratively and be ready to adapt,” she said.
Under Stage 2 restrictions up to 20 people are now allowed to gather in areas including homes, restaurants and pubs, public spaces, gyms, swimming pools, art galleries, museums, playgrounds, cinemas, zoos, amusement parks, theatres, libraries and beauty salons and up to 50 people are allowed at funerals. Recreational travel, camping and accommodation is permitted across the state.
Tourism Noosa has called out to businesses, stakeholders and community members to put forward their ideas toward a two-year strategic plan to attract tourists to the region.
To have your say visit on the Destination Noosa Stakeholder Engagement 2020 go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/YS2S6CX by Friday 5 June.
For more information visit www.visitnoosa.com.au/corporate-industry/strategy
