NOOSA has made national headlines this week, with a particularly flattering review announcing the coastal haven has again found it mojo.
Locals may not think Noosa ever lost its lustre, but according to The Australian and a host of locals interviewed, Noosa is back in action with Hastings Street a-buzzing.
The article boasts not a single for-lease sign can be seen in Hastings Street, a place the author describes as the financial engine for the local tourism economy, while “cocktail-fuelled laughter” fills the night air as tourists stop to appreciate the stunning lights that light-up the popular street.
“Sandwiched between the natural bookends of Noosa National Park and the shining expanse of the Noosa River, and boating a sheltered, north-facing beach of unparalleled beauty, Noosa has long been among the sparkliest jewels in Australia’s tourism crown,” the article reads.
“It’s a paradise, its small-town, eco-friendly vibe preserved through a half century of strenuous anti-development efforts that kept buildings no higher than the tree line.”
The article chronicles the impact of the global financial crisis on Noosa and the drop in housing prices, as well as the impact of the adverse weather during the 2010 and 2011 summer season, before reminding us that Noosa is back in a big way.
“High-end holiday rentals over Christmas-New Year were at 100 per cent occupancy,” the article read.
“Bumper-to-bumper traffic snaked two to three kilometres back from Hastings Street and, on Main Beach, there was barely room to get a towel down.
“ … People were turning up, they were spending too, with most top-drawer restaurants booked solid for lunch and dinner for weeks on end.”
Tourism Noosa CEO Damien Massingham said the revival of Noosa was due to a re-think about how the region was marketed and how it looked, with a number of properties investing in renovations to increase appeal.
With the return to the Noosa we know and love, a move to a more relaxed Noosa with an organic, social dining focus came along too.
Local business owner Jim Berardo said the change is fantastic because it means “there’s a new life for Noosa – a new, permanent life, not just a short-term one”.
