Mooloolaba Beach surfs into Australia’s top 10

“A beautiful place” .. “The perfect city beach” .. “Stunning” …. These are just some of the sparkling reviews that helped propel Mooloolaba Beach all the way to number six in TripAdvisor’s Top 25 Australian Beaches.

It’s the first time Mooloolaba has featured in the Top 25 Australian beaches list on the world’s largest travel site that has 350 million visitors a month and comprises 320 million reviews covering 6.2 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.

Sunshine Coast Council CEO Michael Whittaker said it was wonderful recognition for the region and came just weeks after Caloundra’s Kings Beach was rated the state’s best by Surf Life Saving Queensland.

Sandcastles Mooloolaba Resort and Oceans Mooloolaba were also recently named in TripAdvisor’s top 25 Australian hotels for 2016.

“Mooloolaba received 675 reviews on the TripAdvisor site, 663 in the category of ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’,” Mr Whittaker said.

“The majority of reviewers were people from outside our region and often from overseas so this is terrific recognition and exposure for one of the Sunshine Coast’s signature destinations.

“Council and Visit Sunshine Coast have worked very hard to lift the profile of Mooloolaba and other signature tourist hot spots in our region.

“Over the past few months we’ve also received incredible reviews from the four cruise ship stopovers that saw around 6,000 guests from all corners of Australia and other countries coming ashore at Mooloolaba and being treated to our beautiful beaches, terrific tourist attractions and friendly hospitality.

“These reviews are only the tip of the iceberg when you also consider the word of mouth reviews and the vast social media networks that send the glowing comments and photos of our guests to so many other people right around the world.

“In 2016 the world is coming to the Sunshine Coast. We will be hosting an unprecedented 60 major and regional events that will attract around 150,000 national and international guests from more than 40 countries and generate about $100 million in economic activity.

“Many will return to the Sunshine Coast and through word of mouth, their family and friends will want to come here as well.”

Mooloolaba Jet Boat owner Jerry Van Driel-Vis said the positive publicity was a bonus for all local businesses.

“To see Mooloolaba Beach and Mooloolaba hotels receiving these kinds of ratings and recognition is also great for our business and many others in Mooloolaba and right around the coast and hinterland,” he said.

“The more people that come here for our nationally renowned beaches or hotels, the more people we have wanting to book with us and the more people are spending money in restaurants and cafes and venturing right around the Sunshine Coast to sample all of our great attractions.”

Managing Director of Sundaze Swimwear at Mooloolaba, Fraser Green said the waves of additional tourism had been created by the cruise ship stopovers.

“My two Mooloolaba retail stores had a combined increase in sales of 120% on the corresponding day of the previous year during a recent cruise visit and from what I saw most traders had a similar or better result than mine,” he said.

“So to have our wonderful Mooloolaba Beach rated number six in Australia on a website like TripAdvisor can only be great as far as attracting more visitors and obviously for a swimwear business we’re rapt!”

Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Simon Ambrose said the recognition by TripAdvisor was paying dividends for the region now and into the future.

"For Queensland and the Sunshine Coast to dominate the Top 10 beaches selected by travellers is a great reflection of the quality experience we offer visitors," Mr Ambrose said.

"The success of Mooloolaba is particularly encouraging because over the past year it has become a major port for visiting cruise vessels, and the feedback we've had from the stop-overs has been excellent.

“As a result, we have a record cruise season lined up for 2016, with 17,000 visitors expected to experience Mooloolaba and the Sunshine Coast during the year.

"Our tourism operators in Mooloolaba, Noosa and throughout the Sunshine Coast deserve congratulations for their dedication to customer service.

“While we are fortunate to have outstanding natural attractions, in the end it is the personal experiences that register most of all with visitors and clearly we've made a very positive impression."

Fast Facts: Mooloolaba in the spotlight

February 2016: Mooloolaba Beach named number six in TripAdvisor’s top 25 Australian beaches

January 2016: Sandcastles Mooloolaba Resort (#10) and Oceans Mooloolaba (#17) both named in TripAdvisor’s top 25 Australia hotels for 2016.

January 2016: Received another top rating from cruise ship guests and crew aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ship Azamara Quest

July 2015: Received the highest passenger review ratings of any P&O cruise ship stopover destination in Australia and the South Pacific.