Noosa enjoying Christmas surge in sales and bookings

For one retailer a bumper trade is in stark contrast to last year’s bushfire-impacted Christmas sales.

Busy times for local retailers.

The retail bottom line in Noosa is bikini sales are going off in the last minute Christmas rush as Queenslanders and Victorians tourists make up for the COVID-enforced New South Wales accommodation closures.

At the Noosa Civic the Bikini Hut was enjoying a bumper trade in stark contrast to last year’s bushfire-impacted Christmas sales.

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“The Noosa Civic in general has actually been really good,” store manager Jo Mathias said.

“I think a lot of people have been quite conscious about supporting local business.

“Last year with all the fires people were really, really depressed whereas this year it seems like people are just really appreciative of the freedom we have here in Queensland.”

Noosa Holiday Accommodation Association chair Finola Thompson of the Coral Beach Noosa resort said Christmas bookings had stood up well despite a “huge amount of churn” forced by the greater Sydney travel restrictions.

“So far fingers crossed the bookings that we have had to cancel we’ve been able to sell them to Queenslanders,” Ms Thompson said.

“It’s been a made rush for everybody to try and sort everything out.

“We’re going to end up with little gaps that we wouldn’t have had but as a general rule they’re filling.”

Noosa Junction foot traffic has been solid in the lead up to Christmas.

Ms Thompson said NSW bookings are not a major component of Noosa bookings.

“If it (the COVID cancellations) were to spread to Victoria it would be much more of a problem,” she said.

“The thing is when you lose a Christmas booking it can be for two weeks so it’s a lot of nights to fill.”

Noosa Junction Association president David Langdon said the local retail was going well.

“The hospitality is very strong, the cafes and the restaurants are definitely extremely busy,” Mr Langdon said.

“There’s quite a lot of foot traffic, there’s a noticeable growth particularly from people who have come up from down south.

“Bookings are quite strong, generally 90-95 per cent of those (Sydney) cancellations have been filled by locals, which I then think is driving so many people being out in the Junction.”

Cooroy Chamber of Commerce secretary Carol Christensen of Belvedere Newsagency said the town was buzzing.

“Everybody seems to be trading quite well so I’d say the local community is supporting our local traders, which is great,” Ms Christensen said.

The chamber operates an RV stopover near town which she said was “ticking over quite well” with Grey Nomads.

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