Amongst the constant stream of public consultation undertaken by Noosa Council, here’s one question you will not see asked.  Do you, the ratepayers, agree to continue to pump out over $2.5 million a year to endlessly boost tourism in Noosa?

In an age of over-tourism, angry and frustrated residents around the globe are mobilising to resist the demands of this cosseted industry.  Here in Noosa there’s a palpable mood suggesting many residents have had more than enough of propping up the bloated bureaucracy and marketing of an industry that is more than capable of paying its own way and arguably works against their interests.

And yet, our elected Council wanders along dangerously out of step with the mood of its electors.

It won’t ask the question because it already knows the answer.  And it doesn’t like it.

It’s nearly two years since Council renewed its largesse to the local Tourism Industry, promising to continue TN’s annual pipeline of $2,520,000 from ratepayers.  It was supposedly accompanied by stronger governance from council, and quarterly performance reporting.  At the same time the TN honey pot became funded by general rates rather than through the continuation of a separate levy.

As we approach the time to reconsider the deal over the next couple of months, will we see a genuine debate on why this special industry subsidy is in the interest of ratepayers?  Will we see a debate framed by the downside of over-tourism…and not just the benefits of tourist spending and the wildly exaggerated ‘trickle down’ effects claimed by its lobbyists? 

In a submission to Council in 2023, Noosa Parks Association said “Tourism Noosa has become a bloated bureaucracy that is no longer fit for purpose. Noosa does not require the same level of marketing that occurred ten or twenty years ago. Under previous councils, Tourism Noosa was funded through a levy imposed on businesses, scaled according to type and location of the business. Under the current council, this approach has been discarded in favour of funding Tourism Noosa from general revenue (i.e. rates). Residents are expected to accept an impost of $2.52 million which is Noosa Council’s annual subsidy for Tourism Noosa. We believe Tourism Noosa can operate effectively on its membership fees, income from its booking service, plus its additional income received from grants, events, Tourism Queensland etc. “

Much of the elected Council appears to have been captured by the industry talking points.  

In the last version of this conversation two years ago, then-deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie delighted the tourism lobby by repeating its favourite cautionary tale of how tourism floundered in Colorado when the US state turned off its public spending on marketing.  But this much-hyped example was from 1993, a different age – more than 30-years ago –  before the term ‘over-tourism’ was even coined.  Worse though, it assumes a falsehood.  That the only way to properly fund the industry’s marketing is through public funds, rather than its own profits. 

And now we have an equally specious argument doing the rounds: that the funding can be justified thanks to the higher rate revenue being received from STA properties.

The danger in this argument is clear.  Council receives a windfall from the huge proliferation of Short Term Accommodation businesses that have popped up across the shire like poison mushrooms.  Is our Council already becoming so addicted to the ill-gotten gains from STA that it justifies the spending of public money on the tourism marketing bureaucracy?

To state the obvious, our Council should be doing everything within its power to reduce STA’s, not using its tax windfall from them to encourage over-tourism.  And that money it collects should be going to much more effective control over the scourge of STA party houses in previously quiet suburban streets.

Not all of our Councillors have been captured by Tourism Noosa’s blend of cajoling and sometimes clumsy lobbying for its honey pot.

We know of one or two Councillors who have questioned the size of the TN marketing bureaucracy, the fact that it often appears out of step with Noosa values and who openly wonder why the industry can’t pay its own way to a far greater extent.

So Noosa, it’s that time again.  Let’s see just how much our Councillors can bend and twist to find ways of justifying propping up over-tourism in our shire and continuing to hand over a large bag of public money to a bloated marketing bureaucracy.  Standing up to TN will take some leadership on behalf of residents, but where might that come from?