The plan provides a strategic vision and direction for the local tourism industry, including 27 actions across five key areas:
- Destination Marketing
- Product Development and Experience Delivery
- Visitor Services and Business Readiness
- Enabling Infrastructure
- Destination Stewardship
In developing this plan with local tourism operators and key industry stakeholders, a tourism industry vision has been created:
Redlands Coast is a connected region with liveability, social inclusion and natural values at its heart. Its tourism industry brings culture to life and creates opportunities for locals and visitors to play a part in caring for the environment and building a sustainable and resilient economy.
The plan adopts a collaborative partnership approach to the actions that set the foundation for growth in an exciting time in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games.
It also presents aspirational goals and opportunities that outline how tourism can create economic growth across Redlands Coast. It is built on the principles that tourism is everyone’s business, that visitors travel for enriching experiences, that the region needs to be brought to life through storytelling and precinct activation, that travel around the region should be seamless and convenient and that sustainability and community values need to sit at the heart of the region’s brand.
Now is the time for Redlands Coast to build on the planning and infrastructure that is being set in place to service the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Redlands Coast – Naturally Wonderful
From bush to bay, beach to rainforest, calm to wild, Redlands Coast is naturally wonderful.
Redlands Coast is home to 161,730 people and covers an area of 537km2, bordering Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast. This includes more than 335km of coastline along southern Moreton Bay, as well as seven distinct islands. Redlands Coast includes renowned Minjerribah/ North Stradbroke Island – the world’s second largest sand island. Redlands Coast is also home to the Quandamooka People, who have cared for this region for more than 21,000 years.
The city is approximately 35 minutes' drive, or 26km, from the Brisbane CBD and approximately 50 minutes' drive, or 96km, from the Gold Coast.
Redlands Coast is a place to immerse yourself in Quandamooka culture - the oldest living culture in the world, explore the world’s second largest sand island, enjoy the sparkling waters of southern Moreton Bay and diverse islands, world-class beaches and surfing, and vibrant hinterland and coastal villages.
Experience Quandamooka culture or watch whales pass by from one of Australia’s best land-based vantage points at Point Lookout on Minjerribah/North Stradbroke Island, the world’s second largest sand island. Explore our many tracks and trails or pump up the adrenaline with mountain bike riding at Mount Cotton, where the first-class tracks are also accessible to adaptive riders.
Nature lovers relish Redlands Coast’s nature-based appeal. Redlands Coast is also home to kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, possums and more than 300 species of birdlife, while southern Moreton Bay teems with marine life, including dolphins, turtles, dugongs and manta rays. The region also boasts a range of boutique stores, a thriving café culture, craft bars and micro-breweries, Queensland’s largest winery, unique arts and crafts and creative precincts, including Council’s Redland Performing Arts Centre and Redland Art Gallery.
Renowned as an event-friendly destination with a balanced calendar of community events, Redlands Coast is also home to a diverse array of markets, festivals, concerts, cultural celebrations and sporting fixtures and competitions. As the economy continues to rebuild post COVID-19, Redlands Coast has the opportunity to reimagine how tourism and the visitor economy can meet the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of the region’s residents and targeted visitor markets into the future.
As a dynamic industry, tourism is identified in the Redland City Economic Development Framework 2014-2041 as one of eight key growth sectors that can be used as a driver for socio-economic progress for this city.
Tourism currently accounts for 3.3 per cent of Redlands Coast Gross Regional Product with a target set for this to reach 4% by 2041. Each year there are 1.2 million visitors to Redlands Coast injecting more than $234 million into the local economy.
Redlands Coast Events Strategy 2024-2029
Council has adopted the Redlands Coast Events Strategy 2024-2029, a key action of the Redlands Coast Destination Management Plan 2023-2028 and supports Our Future Redlands – A Corporate Plan to 2026 and Beyond.
