By Phil Jarratt
Tourism Noosa members voted conclusively for fundamental and far-reaching changes to the 20-year-old tourism body’s constitution at its annual general meeting last Friday.
In what was described by some tourism veterans as “the biggest shakeup since amalgamation”, members effectively endorsed a new look, streamlined and almost entirely skills-based board, and an even more streamlined strategic plan that hands back to Noosa Council every aspect of Noosa’s biggest industry and its interaction with the general community except marketing.
The “objects” outlined in the new constitution basically reinforce those defined in last year’s Destination Noosa Strategy 2020-23 as “champion the Noosa brand, market and promote, value-add for members”. In other words, sell, sell, sell.
Speaking before the vote on the constitutional amendments, acting chair Louise Formosa said: “The board earlier in the year agreed that the current constitution was inhibiting [its] effectiveness and its ability to move forward efficiently and successfully.
“The governance committee, which I’ve chaired, was asked by the board to recommend changes to the constitution that could be presented to the members. The changes did not come easily … there was vigorous debate at several board meetings before the final version was unanimously approved by the board.
“Many hours of hard work have gone into this document and I can only hope that it is appreciated by members.”
Tourism Noosa staffers had previously done their best in this regard by emailing to the body’s 700-plus members the 28 pages of the amended constitution, along with explanatory notes and a comparison with the old constitution.
But on the day, while a quorum was reached and 81 per cent of the members present voted for the changes, prompting a vigorous round of applause, more than 80 per cent of the total membership did not vote.
Only two members spoke from the floor against the changes as presented, requesting an extraordinary general meeting to refine them. Both of them were highly-respected pioneers of Noosa tourism organisations.
Rick Cooper, now long-time chair of Noosa Shire’s Bendigo Banks, who as chair of the Noosa Community Tourism Board was one of the architects of the original TN constitution, said: “All reference to community has disappeared from the objects, which is of some concern to me because out of that community connection came the food and wine festival, the Noosa Long Weekend and other events.
“Without that connection to community and without a connection to destination management, those events would not have existed.
“I would like to see these references reintroduced, which can’t happen here today, but could be done at a new EGM, which I would support, notwithstanding the work that has already been put into the amendments.”
Ms Formosa responded: “It was not intended that we no longer took an interest in the community, but our role is defined by our constitution which is a contract that binds us through the board to all of the members.
“The community is the responsibility of council, and that includes all ratepayers, interest groups and others … So while [community] does not sit there expressly as an object, it is certainly relevant to everything we do. If Council is going to continue to fund Tourism Noosa, they will need to consider how we are working for the community.”
Mr Cooper also expressed concerns about where the skills required for a skills-based board would come from.
“I’m concerned that all the skills could be coming from outside the area, which has been a problem in the past. When Tourism Noosa and Tourism Sunshine Coast were forced to amalgamate under the council amalgamation, a skills-based board was appointed with a chair from outside of Noosa who had no understanding of tourism and didn’t care.
“We need to be very careful about how we recruit directors.”
Ms Formosa: “Re the concern about the skills base coming from outside the area, we already have three members-elect on the board who are continuing their terms, so we are only looking to fill four positions and we are already looking at people who are on the ground here in Noosa.”
Former Tourism Noosa chair Drew Pearson argued that the retention of a representative of the Hastings Street Association as the board transitioned from representative to skills-based was contradictory.
“Given that Tourism Noosa is an independent company, and to avoid any possible conflict of interest, it seemed to me that with the revamp of the constitution, which I applaud, you had an opportunity to take the added step of ensuring you could avoid the history of an association with another body that has an influence over your conduct,“ Mr Pearson said.
“Given the fact that tourism has changed so radically over the years, with so many associations representing different districts, why would it be that one association would be able to embed itself in the board and remain an area of influence?
“It struck me as an anomaly that you would do this when you had an opportunity to pass the pub test, to show your independence and your ability to act on the objects that you now have in the constitution, with a skills-based group of seven independent directors looking after all of the region, all of the members.”
Ms Formosa responded: “Regardless of whether this constitutional change is approved or not, we will still have a Hastings Street Association representative on the board. We only have the opportunity at this AGM to allow the members to vote yes or no to the draft of the amendments that has been provided to you. That is not to say that, in the event the constitution was passed, the board could not then reconsider this point [as it] reviews the amended constitution over the next 12 months.”
Mr Pearson: “By then the appetite for change will have gone.”
While the acting chair’s comments on the amendments and their meanings were sometimes confusing or contradictory, chief executive officer Melanie Anderson’s “report card” was succinct and positive, revealing that while the board debated, the team got on with the job, keeping ahead of the Covid curve with new data-driven marketing strategies.
In tourism’s toughest year in history, Noosa welcomed 1.9 million visitors who spent over $1 billion.
Due to border closures, there was a 27 per cent increase on the previous year from Queensland’s intrastate market, and in good news for the future, Ms Anderson reported that length of stay was 4.4 days, up from 2.75 the previous year, and average daily room rate up to $251 from $212.
TN was able to report a loss of just $7000, nudging break-even and down from the previous year’s $270,000.
