Venues join forces

DestinationQ may have rolled out of town yesterday, but it has left a newly formed tourism collaboration in its wake.
Five major Noosa venues have joined forces to create MICE Noosa, a one-stop venue and point of contact for professional conference organisers (PCOs).
The collaboration includes Noosa’s five nationally branded four and five-star resorts: Sheraton Noosa Resort and Spa; Outrigger Little Hastings Street Resort and Spa; RACV Noosa Resort; The Sebel Noosa and Mantra French Quarter Resort.
PCOs can simply visit a dedicated web page developed by Tourism Noosa, complete their primary requirements and will then be directed to the host venue that best meets their needs.
The primary venue will act as the single point of contact and prepare one proposal offering flexible and creative solutions by working with each venue operator to meet the brief.
PCOs will enjoy all that Noosa has to offer without being restricted to just one venue or accommodation provider and will save time by having one contact without the need for multiple phone calls and time consuming venue research.
Combined, the five resorts feature 708 rooms, 1500 beds, and meeting capacity for up to 830 delegates, and all are within walking distance of each other anlong with Noosa’s range of natural, lifestyle and entertainment attractions.
Tourism Noosa CEO Damien Massingham said the five-venue collaboration was a great initiative for Noosa and he expected the entire region to benefit as a result of businesses working together to secure larger conferences to the Sunshine Coast, with the proof evident in drawing DestinationQ to Noosa.
“When the Queensland Government approached the major event venues on the Sunshine Coast to tender for DestinationQ, no individual property in Noosa had the capacity to host a forum of this size,” he said.
“The business development teams at Outrigger Little Hastings Street and Sheraton Noosa saw the significant benefits of putting Noosa in the spotlight and worked collaboratively to present one single tender proposal that not only met the government’s criteria, but also exceeded its expectations.
“This a major coup for the area which outbid some of Queensland’s most iconic tourism destinations and is a prime example of venue operators working together, for the benefit of the entire region rather than competing for the business.”
He went on to congratulate Mantra French Quarter Resort, The Sebel and RACV Noosa Resort for joining the MICE Noosa collaboration also commending the business model.