Tourism and Major Events Levy adding extra benefit to Coast economy
An independent review of the performance of the Tourism and Major Events Levy released today has shown a significant growth in its benefit to the Sunshine Coast economy.
An independent review of the performance of the Tourism and Major Events Levy released today has shown a significant growth in its benefit to the Sunshine Coast economy.
According to the independent review, every dollar invested in marketing and major events on the Sunshine Coast in 2015-16 contributed to the delivery of an industry-wide return of $32.
That 32:1 return on investment was almost double the figure from 2013-14 (18:1).
For the 2015-16 financial year, Sunshine Coast Council invested $5.2 million from the levy in tourism and destination marketing and major events.
For the same period, the tourism sector on the Sunshine Coast delivered an estimated $1.673 billion in visitor expenditure, generated $946.9 million in direct output/sales and supported 5179 direct full-time jobs and almost 10,000 indirect jobs.
This is positive outcome for all industries as 79 cents from every dollar spent by visitors flows through to other sectors of the economy.
The ROI increase can be attributed to significant growth in visitor numbers in the Sunshine Coast local government area between 2014 and 2016.
Tourism, Sport and Major Events Portfolio Councillor Jason O’Pray said tourism was a key pillar of the Sunshine Coast economy and that the investment of the levy helped to drive, support and leverage tourism and event opportunities to the region.
“This independent report demonstrates that we’re getting more bang for our tourism buck,” Cr O’Pray said.
“Tourism and events are an integral part of our regional economy and play a leading role in achieving the vision for the Sunshine Coast to become Australia’s healthy, smart and creative region.
“The report shows the Tourism and Major Events Levy program continues to operate well, with the big improvement on the ROI helping to boost our economy and create jobs for locals.”
Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Simon Latchford said the Tourism and Major Events Levy recognised the importance of tourism to the Sunshine Coast community.
“Just as the Sunshine Coast has attracted record domestic and international visitor numbers, it is also pleasing to see the tourism levy record an increasing return on investment,” Mr Latchford said.
“From $15.50 in 2011-12 through to a $32 return during 2015-16 for every dollar spent is an extremely positive result.
“It also encouraging to note this independent report recommends increased investment in the area of tourism so the region can remain competitive in the areas of tourism marketing and events attraction.
“As the regional tourism organisation, we look forward to maximising the benefits of the tourism levy for the region’s businesses and residents.”
The independent review was undertaken by EarthCheck which sourced information from Tourism Research Australia, national Visitors Survey and International Visitor Survey reports, the industry standards for this type of statistical information.
EarthCheck also sourced data from Visit Sunshine Coast and Council’s Tourism and Major Events Unit.