NOOSA was one of the nation’s top beach destinations over the Australia Day long weekend, according to new statistics from Wotif.com.
Wotif.com product director Donna Rodios said travelers typically made the most of the coast on Australia Day and accommodation bookings for the long weekend revealed Noosa as the second most popular coastal destination for the third year in a row.
Surfers Paradise took out the top spot, but Noosa remains a close second, drawing people to its white beaches, relaxed atmosphere and beautiful natural surrounds.
Tourism Noosa CEO Damien Massingham said Wotif.com’s report reinforced Noosa’s position as an iconic Australian holiday destination.
“Recent international and domestic visitor statistics for the September 2014 quarter also highlighted Noosa’s continued record growth in visitation with key visitor markets from Sydney and Brisbane staying longer and spending more in Noosa,” he said.
Mr Massingham said Noosa had also experienced a 13.5 per cent increase in international visitor spend, which he described as a “strong result” given international spend for the rest of the coast grew just 3.44 per cent, and only 2.7 per cent for Queensland.
“Over 52 per cent of all international visitors to the Sunshine Coast chose to stay in Noosa,” Mr Massingham said.
Also, Noosa’s market share of Sunshine Coast inbound expenditure was dominant with 81.5 per cent of all international visitor expenditure in the region occurring in Noosa, compared to 18.5 per cent share for the rest of the Sunshine Coast.
“This is all great news for Noosa and reflects our strategic focus on maintaining a balance between volume and value visitors, ensuring all sectors of the industry are busy but also benefitting from a yield perspective,” Mr Massingham said.
“Numbers are important but the results we are seeing in visitor spend are critical to keeping Noosa’s local economy buoyant.”
Mr Massingham said many tourism operators had reported these school holidays were the best summer holidays in many years.
“This is very encouraging as tourism is our largest employer and contributor to the local economy,” he said.