Tourism operators bracing for another wet summer
Thu 13 November 2008
Lauren Dickie, Business Tourism
Local tourism operators are preparing for another wet summer after the Bureau of Meteorology warned Queenslanders of an above normal cyclone and flood season.
Last year’s bad weather severely affected tourism from Airlie Beach to Coolangatta, including the Sunshine Coast, resulting in lower patronage and costing an estimated $A4.5 million.
However, while another season of persistent rain and storms similar to last year cannot be ruled out, meteorologists say the chances of such severe weather are not as high for the upcoming summer season.
Sunreef Scuba Diving is one of the local businesses that felt the effects of last summer’s above average rainfall. 
Services co-owner Greg Riddell said it had a significant impact on business, with numerous clients cancelling dives.
Mr Riddell also said that they missed out on valuable merchandise sales such as that of t-shirts and from divers who upgrade their equipment.
“It is business we will not be able to recover,” Mr Riddell said.
“Overall, the weather affected our turnover for the first three months of this year by one third. However, business is back on par for the same period as last year.”
Mr Riddell said early indicators for this summer season were positive, with many pre-bookings and enquiries.
However, divers will have to follow through with bookings if the business is to have a busier summer period than last year.
Mr Riddell says long-term forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology do more harm than good due to the fact that the forecast has more of an impact than the actual weather.
The long-term forecast negatively impacts business as divers are less likely to book dive trips if they think the weather is going to be poor.
Mr Riddell also says that shorter forecasts can also have a negative impact, stopping divers booking if the seven day forecast predicts bad weather, and that weather forecasts such as these cost the business thousands of dollars in lost sales per year.
Last summer’s poor weather also impacted the Sunshine Coast Novotel Twin Waters Resort.
Reservations manager Virginia McCreadie says the month of January was particularly bad, as some guests chose not to take the chance and cancelled their holiday at the last minute.
“We tried to still encourage guests to follow through on holiday plans,” Ms McCreadie said.
“We tried to do this by planning indoor activities to occupy guests while it was raining.”
Ms McCreadie said other factors like the current economic situation will need to be taken into consideration this year, and that the resort is doing everything it can to stay competitive.
“There will be an effect, but not necessarily a positive effect,” Ms McCreadie said.
Holiday rental listings website realholidays.com.au conducted a survey, finding that 12 per cent of Australians had cancelled holiday plans because of the recent economic crisis.
This is due to the fact that after essential household items and bills are paid, and in the lead up to Christmas, holidays are ranked highest as a disposable luxury item.
Tourism is a major contributor to the Sunshine Coast, which has the fourth largest share of tourism employment in Queensland at 11.6 per cent.
Brisbane, Gold Coast and Tropical North Queensland come first, second and third at 28.1, 22.1 and 13.8 per cent.
Because tourism is such an integral part of the Sunshine Coast economy, any downturn can have significant repercussions.
Tourism Queensland has recognised the need to protect Sunshine Coast tourism, announcing a series of rescue packages.
In July this year Tourism Minister Desley Boyle announced that Tourism Queensland would be working with Tourism Sunshine Coast over a 12 month period to develop ‘year-round experiences” and build up a greater range of international, export-ready tourism products.
“We hope to assist in managing the region’s natural resources and develop distinctive Sunshine Coast products and experiences,” she said.
Work will also continue on the “Great Sunshine Way”, an international campaign, and a publicity campaign as well as domestic marketing campaigns.
The “Great Sunshine Way” is an international touring route where visitors to Queensland can travel via car, rail, coach or boat and still experience a variety of destinations in southern Queensland.
Brisbane is the origin of the route, with other destinations such as the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and the Fraser Coast included.
Tourism directly employs over 119,000 people in Queensland, making up 5.7 per cent of all people employed.
Another 84,000 are employed in sectors indirectly related to tourism.
The Queensland tourism industry directly contributes $A8.8billion to the economy, making up 4.5 per cent of the State’s gross state product.
Tourism indirectly contributes an additional $A5.6billion to the economy which is higher than Queensland agriculture, forestry and fishing’s 2006-2007 contribution.
Image(s) designed by Lauren Dickie