It’s impossible to set key performance indicators (KPIs) for Tourism Noosa when the primary informing document has not yet been written.

And the rush to reduce funding to the tourism body could cost jobs.

These are just two of the concerns held by Noosa councillor Nicola Wilson following a council vote to cut funding to Tourism Noosa (TN) from $2.5 million to $2m annually in 2025-26.

The motion, presented by council CEO Larry Sengstock at a special meeting on May 8 passed in a 5:2 majority with Crs Wilson and Tom Wegener against.

Cr Wilson said a ‘reset’ would have been a preferred option, “to look at the broader industry”.

“TN is one cog in the wheel; it’s not the only entity that’s doing any marketing and it’s not the only contributor to the whole tourist economy,” Cr Wilson said.  

“We need to look at what we need it for: what part does it need to play.

“I’m certainly not suggesting it doesn’t play a part; I’m just asking what gap it needs to fill, or what problems it’s trying to solve.”

She said just because council has historically given TN $2.5 million dollars, which in the past was levied on all businesses, “how was that figure arrived at? And is it still relevant?”

“No-one can actually tell me why it’s 2.5 million or why it’s two million.”

Cr Wilson said the current agreement with TN needs to be clearer and based on agreed outcomes, with consideration of relevant costs.

“I don’t want to keep rolling over an agreement, and then trying to force them to run their business in a particular way when we don’t have agreement on the outcomes we’re trying to achieve.

The Destination Management Plan (DMP) – we can’t use this as the guiding strategy as it’s not yet complete.

There’s a lot of things that came out of the consultation part of it. We have a lot of data around the issues between tourism and livability for residents, and we heard from the community about what the solutions could be, but there’s no holy grail that will fix the situation or inform what the funding arrangements should be. 

Cr. Nicola Wilson

The short notice given to TN on the financial changes can present difficulties for the organisation, but public pressure to reduce TN funding may have led to emotional decision-making rather than logic.

“The funding deed said negotiations would happen by December last year, but they didn’t get concluded. And the longer it has dragged on, the harder the decision became. It was not fair to make the decision so close to the end of the current agreement when there was no time to plan for the outcome,” she said. 

A one-year agreement is in place until June 30, 2026, which will also include new KPIs related to identifying new revenue sources, and will be subject to review before its expiry.

“This is to give time for a review, and I hope we’re not just in the same position in 12 months’ time,” Cr Wilson said.

Council needs to give better direction to TN, but also let it make decisions. 

I feel uncomfortable that we’re setting KPIs on how they manage their business rather than what outcomes we’re looking to deliver for the industry and community.

Cr. Nicola Wilson

( Feature picture – Cr. Nicola Wilson with Council CEO Larry Sengstock )