By JONATHON HOWARD
NOOSA tourism and accommodation operators received a record number of bookings through December and several operators have reported their best December on record.
Both national and international visitor numbers have surged, with Noosa considered one of Australia’s “must see“ destinations.
The results were revealed in the annual Visitor Survey, which showed the coast recorded the highest growth figure of any region in Queensland at 9.4 per cent growth and a total of 245,000 international visitors.
This is set to continue with forward bookings for the holidays looking “fantastic“, according to Sunshine Coast Destination Ltd CEO Simon Ambrose.
“Many operators are full but there are still places to be found for people looking around for vacancies,“ he said.
“Looking forward, the hinterland gets pretty quiet later in January, so people looking to have a bit6 of a break can enjoy the slightly cooler climate up there and still be pretty close to the coast.“
Mr Ambrose said the buoyant tourism sector this year had boosted the region’s popularity with visitors.
“Bookings in current years are the best they’ve had in 10 to 12 years and that has certainly been played out by many different operators,“ he said.
A Tourism Noosa spokeswoman said the summer looked strong.
“Our Visitor Information Centre and many tourism operators report that bookings are looking healthy, with most properties around Hastings St and Noosaville heavily booked right through to the Australia Day long weekend,“ she said.
