MOVE OVER BORA BORA

MOVE OVER BORA BORA…

When you think about the most loved travel destination around the world, where pops into your mind first? Bora Bora, Cancun, or maybe even Ibiza? Well, the correct answer to that question is actually the Sunshine Coast.

This week the Tourism Sentiment Index (TSI) released its findings for 2021 where it ranked the 100 most loved destinations across the world. The list is built by the best indicator of all – word of mouth. To gather this data the TSI tracked 1.6 billion publicly available online conversations and content pieces and used artificial intelligence to determine their sentiment. This could be on social media networks, blogs, forums, or review sites such as Tripadvisor.

Queensland as a whole dominated the list, but the number one spot went to none other than the Sunshine Coast. No longer a small fish in a big pond, it’s clear our region is paving the way for what can be achieved in regional tourism across the globe. To top it off, Noosa ranked at number 5 behind Bora Bora, Udaipur, and the Whitsundays. To have both the Sunshine Coast and Noosa in the top 5 is a major accolade after undoubtedly one of the toughest years for tourism. Gone are the days when the Sunshine Coast was thought to have been part of Brisbane or the Gold Coast, we have built up our reputation so high the region is now overtaking all other major tourism destinations. 

So what does this mean for property?

The Sunshine Coast’s popularity is only going up from here. After two years, Queensland’s border has now fully re-opened to all states and territories, as well as vaccinated international travelers. Throughout the pandemic, we saw a major surge in the number of people migrating not just to Queensland but more specifically the Sunshine Coast.

This recent recognition means it’s clear we are also on the radar of people right across the world, not just from down south. The more our (no longer secret) slice of paradise is plastered across the globe the higher our visitor numbers will be once flights start to fully hit the skies again. It’s important to remember we haven’t even seen the potential our new international runway can bring as it was activated when planes were grounded due to the pandemic. Tourism is one of the region’s biggest industries, and as it grows so too will the number of roles in the space such as hospitality and hotel workers, taxi drivers and attraction operators. More jobs mean even more people moving here which in turn increases the already high demand for housing.

We’ve said it before and we will no doubt say it again – we are not experiencing a property ‘boom’. We are in a protracted upswing and the growth will just keep coming. The Sunshine Coast is quickly evolving and plans need to be put in place to ensure our housing market can keep up.

On top of the southern migration and this tourism surge, in the next few years construction on infrastructure will also start to ensure our region is well equipped for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games. This once again means more job opportunities…more people moving here…higher demand for housing.

If you want to know how you can create property wealth in this unique market, contact us today to organise a free consultation with one of our expert coaches.