Tourists unhappy with Maroochy facilities
Mon 22 May 2006
Renae Henry, Journalism
Visitors to Maroochydore are unhappy with its lack of public transport, entertainment and car parking spaces.
However, council says it is not concerned about results from a survey which found one in four visitors to Maroochydore were dissatisfied with the nightlife and entertainment.
Tourism Queensland conducted the visitor survey in January and June 2005, and released the findings in September last year.
The survey also found one in seven visitors to Maroochydore were dissatisfied with the availability of public transport, and were also unhappy with the current level of development and lack of car park facilities.
The survey, detailed on the Tourism Queensland website, is measured by a number of key indicators, including daily and monthly occupancy levels of holiday accommodation complexes, and visitors to attractions.
Maroochy Council Planning and Marketing Executive Officer, David Hopper, said the issues of dissatisfaction were the responsibility of the individual governmental departments.
“The surveys provide feedback and the planning department is aware of it,” Mr Hopper said.
“But the surveys are about providing feedback to the areas of government that have the responsibility to deal with them.”
Mr Hopper said council had also been granted a pre-determined budget for each year, which meant money for tourism events had to be distributed wisely.
“Last year we had a marketing budget of about $300,000,” Mr Hopper said.
He said the Maroochy Tourism Industry Advisory Board (MTIAB) recommended where council spent its money in the tourism industry.
“They act as a strategic advisory board to advise council on funding for events and advise on planning and marketing,” Mr Hopper said.
Despite the need to improve nightlife in Maroochydore for the benefit of tourism, Chairman of MTIAB, Benny Pike, said the board’s focus was on using local events to bring tourists to the area.
He said the board had received event funding applications for the next financial year, to a total of $721,299.
Mr Pike said previous events funded by MTIAB included the Mooloolaba Triathlon, Coolum Kite Festival and the Australian PGA Championship.
“We fund these events to bring tourism to the area,” Mr Pike said.
The Maroochy visitor survey was distributed to more than 100 tourism operators from the Sunshine Coast at the tourism information session funded by council and held on April 5.
The event was hosted by MTIAB at the Tiffany Jones Fine Art Gallery in Buderim, to provide tourism operators with the board’s future plans for the tourism industry.
Mr Hopper said council was proactive about improving tourism for Maroochydore.
“We are not just sitting on our hands doing nothing,” Mr Hopper said.
Mr Hopper said council’s focus for tourism was launching the Discover Maroochy campaign on May 23 at the Maroochydore cinemas.
He said the campaign brochure was designed to encourage tourists to come to the Maroochy area and there would also be a style guide, intended to show tourism operators marketing style techniques, such as layouts and fonts to use in promotional material.
He said Discover Maroochy would also incorporate a new photo shoot of the Maroochy area.
“The last photo shoot was done by Tourism Queensland some time ago,” Mr Hopper said.
“We’re doing a whole new photo shoot of the area, because selling a destination is about the images.”
Mr Hopper said Council and MTIAB would be promoting Discover Maroochy in New Zealand this year.
“We attract a lot of visitors from there (New Zealand) and have the opportunity to continue to grow with them,” he said.
Image(s) designed by N/A