State government announces tourism funding for Sunshine Coast

Tourism industry insiders have revealed the dire state of accommodation bookings off the back of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred as funding is announced to get the sector back on its feet.

Tourism industry insiders have revealed ex-tropical cyclone Alfred has caused cancellations at a rate reminiscent of the Covid-19 crisis, but help is on the way.

Significant cancellations in bookings and events in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred have affected all sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry.

Visit Sunshine Coast has announced it has successfully secured state government funding for “urgent promotional activities” to rebuild the tourism market with deals and marketing strategies.

Gareth Doran is the manager of Ocean Breeze Resort on Noosa’s Hastings Street.

He said every hotel on the street suffered large numbers of cancellations.

“We had a whole heap of cancellations from the Thursday the storm was supposed to hit until Tuesday,” Mr Doran said.

“It had a sizeable impact on the month as everyone was down to 15% occupancy and a lot of casual workers lost shifts over that week with no people,” he said.

He said at that time of the year on a weekend, Hastings Street hotels would all be 90% full.

“A bunch of managers and I were chatting on the street that Thursday and it felt empty and almost reminiscent of Covid.”

Mr Doran said they were lucky to not get hit and the resort was back to near full occupancy the next weekend and bookings were solid for the rest of the month.

Queensland Tourism Minister Andrew Powell announced the funding at the weekend and said it would be distributed by Tourism Events Queensland.

Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell.

The tourism recovery program will include promotional deals by all three major Australian airlines servicing the Sunshine Coast and a ramping up of TEQ’s Too Great to Wait campaign advertising hundreds of holiday deals.

Marketing efforts targeted to destinations will be used to drive demand by showcasing the region’s local attractions, events and experiences.

Visit Sunshine Coast chief executive Matt Stoeckel said while the Sunshine Coast avoided much of the damage of Cyclone Alfred, tens of thousands of people still cancelled their holiday plans.

CYCLONE ALFRED: Surf conditions at Ann Street Break, Dicky Beach, 3.30pm. Pictured, Brad Holmes from Battery Hill. Photo: Patrick Woods.

“Many tourism businesses have really suffered,” Mr Stoeckel said, adding that he hadn’t seen hotels that empty since the pandemic.

He also said that forward bookings have “dried up”.

“People are understandably cautious about booking holidays when they needn’t be, and we will be using this additional funding to get visitors flowing again to limit the loss to our industry,” he said.

Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Matt Stoeckel welcomed the opening of the Big Pineapple by wearing a tribute shirt. Photo: Michele Sternberg/Visit Sunshine Coast

“The state government has been true to its word that there will be no daylight between response and recovery in getting underway in a comprehensive tourism recovery program.”

Mr Stoeckel said their Real Time social media campaign that shows exactly what the Sunshine Coast looks like at the moment has made some progress with getting people travelling again.

“While this has helped build back traveller confidence, our operators are calling for more urgent support to recoup losses from the disruption caused by Alfred, and this government funding will help us expand our range of promotional initiatives,” he said.

“Our world-class beaches of Noosa and Mooloolaba are looking good and big events such as the Noosa Festival of Surfing and the Mooloolaba Tri later this month are showing we’re in good shape, we just need to get that message out more widely.”

Originally published as State government announces tourism funding for Sunshine Coast