Arguably the biggest issue currently facing Noosa Shire is overtourism. So-called “destination management” is really about how Noosa can survive an ever-growing tsunami of tourists.
Right now, Noosa residents have an opportunity to tell the State Government what they think about this pressing issue. The State Government has released a discussion paper titled Destination 2045 Queensland’s Tourism Future and is seeking responses. Inevitably, that document takes a singular outlook, viewing increased tourism as being ultimately good for all communities across the state.
Where many country towns and coastal resorts may be seeking more tourists, Noosa is arguably in the opposite position of needing to control visitor numbers. This is necessary for the sake of our environment, our public infrastructure, the visitor experience, and most importantly, resident amenity. The one-size-fits-all approach of the State Government simply doesn’t fit Noosa.
Neither our council nor the local tourism sector have any serious strategies for dealing with the ever-increasing numbers of people wanting to visit Noosa and discover what all the hype is about. Tourism Noosa says it has a “value-over-volume” strategy that targets overnight visitors rather than day visitors. But it has no system for capping or reducing the number of drive-in tourists. Under the State Government’s planning, an additional 2.2 million people are expected to be added to South East Queensland by 2046. That means that the pressure on Noosa from day trippers will continue to increase.
In Noosa Matters, I recently outlined a concept for a permit system to control visitor vehicles and numbers. You can read that here.
I will flesh out that concept with more details in the next edition of Noosa Matters. But for now, I ask that you consider responding to the State on the issue of tourism and explain to them why Noosa should be treated as a special case.
If residents don’t make submissions, the state will only hear from vested interests such as Tourism Noosa.
For more than six decades, Noosa has uniquely managed to control urban development while preserving more than 42 per cent of its natural environment, largely in the form of contiguous national parks. All of this was achieved through community action. It was the effort by locals to make Noosa an exceptional place to live that has directly resulted in Noosa becoming a tourism Mecca. Noosa residents should continue to have a say in the future development of the shire. (The response to the recent State Facilitated Development debacle, which could have seen high-rise buildings in Noosa, was a good example of ongoing grassroots activism.)
Yes, tourism provides a revenue stream for some residents, and I’m certainly not suggesting that tourism should be stopped. But tourism is not, by council’s own account, the largest economic sector, and it does need to be regulated. If left unchecked, tourism will continue to overwhelm our coastal areas from Tewantin to Peregian Beach. What’s more, the visitor experience will continue to decline.
Surveys run between 2022 and 2024 of 1,500 visitors and residents in the Noosa area demonstrated that there was broad consensus, and the highest level of agreement, regarding negative impacts of tourism, especially that it contributes to traffic and parking congestion, plus higher prices. Just one in eight respondents, and more of them visitors rather than residents, supported increasing tourism in Noosa. Ergo, from the experience of both resident and visitor, there can be little justification for increasing tourist numbers here. (M. Tarrant et. al. “A Normative Model of Overtourism with Implications for Sustainable Destination Management’, Highlights of Sustainability, 2025)
The Queensland Government needs to understand that it has an opportunity to diversify the State’s tourism attractions by making Noosa a unique place to visit, where the visitor experience is unlike anywhere else. It also has an opportunity to use Noosa as an exemplar of best practice in terms of environmental sustainability, liveability, and carbon footprint.
There are two ways to respond to the State’s Discussion Paper. Easiest and quickest is to complete the community survey. This will only take a few minutes. Amongst other questions, the survey asks whether you believe the area in which you live needs more or less tourists. The other way to respond is to make a submission, in which you can write whatever you wish. You can even do both.
When it comes to State Government thinking about the future of tourism, Noosa needs to make some real noise to ensure Minister Andrew Powell and his bureaucrats understand that Noosa is not the same as everywhere else.
Responses must be lodged by Friday 28th February.
Any member of the community can register in just a few seconds and take the community survey here.
Anyone connected with the tourism industry can take the stakeholder survey here.
Or you can email your submission to this address: destination2045@dtis.qld.gov.au
Emails should clearly state the part of the Destination 2045 discussion paper the submission relates to.
