SUNSHINE COAST
SUNSHINE COAST
Right : Noosa offers plenty of wellness activities . Below :
The Noosa Food and Wine Festival .
Walking on Sunshine
The future is looking bright for Queensland ’ s Sunshine Coast , with a line-up of major events booked for 2017 and potential partnerships on the horizon , writes Brittney Levinson .
The Sunshine Coast has started 2017 on a high , after outperforming the Australian and Queensland growth figures last year with a 13.5 per cent increase in domestic visitors to 3.25 million over a 12 month period . With a stronger focus on events than ever before , Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Simon Latchford says the region ’ s events sector is going from strength to strength . Three years ago the Sunshine Coast delivered around six events , while in 2016 alone the region delivered 65 significant events .
Latchford attributes much of the region ’ s success with events to Visit Sunsine Coast ’ s close relationship with Sunshine Coast Council .
“ The reason we ’ re seeing so much movement in such a rapid period of time is that Sunshine Coast Council has always been and still continues to be extraordinary supporters of both tourism and events ,” he says .
“ Council has been absolutely fantastic in allowing us bid funding for the first time so we ’ ve actually been able to go out into the marketplace and compete effectively .
“ That includes the ‘ nicking ’ of some capital city events , particularly Australian Event Awards , which has historically been in Sydney , we also took the Australian Cruise Conference .”
Looking to continue the region ’ s tourism and events success , Latchford suggests a partnership with Brisbane City is on the cards .
He says the two regions have the potential to work hand-in-hand to deliver successful business events and incentives .
“ By working with a capital city , particularly
22 Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 1 , 2017 www . cimmagazine . com