Visit Sunshine Coast

What Visit Sunshine Coast does

Visit Sunshine Coast is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Queensland's Sunshine Coast region in Australia, operating as a non-profit entity funded by Sunshine Coast Council and Tourism and Events Queensland. The organization was founded in 2010, is headquartered in Maroochydore, and employs 11-50 staff. Its core function is to promote tourism to the Sunshine Coast by operating the visitsunshinecoast.com digital platform, which aggregates 1611+ listings across accommodation, attractions, events, food and drink, and curated travel guides covering coastal towns (Noosa, Caloundra, Mooloolaba, Kawana, Coolum Beach, Maroochydore) and the Hinterland region.

The organization's primary product is a centralized destination platform built on a website content management system with integrated booking and deals modules. Notable product modules include Stay (accommodation), Places to Go (destinations), Things to Do (attractions and tours), Food and Drink, Events, Deals & Special Offers, and a Sunshine Coast Sustainability Program featuring a Trip CO2 Calculator for carbon footprint estimation and tree-planting offsetting. The platform integrates with the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) for inventory syndication. Visit Sunshine Coast operates a separate business events site (businesseventssunshinecoast.com) targeting the corporate conference and events segment.

The business model is government funding rather than commercial revenue. The organization receives major funding from Sunshine Coast Council (local government) and Tourism and Events Queensland (state government body). Distribution and customer acquisition rely on direct-to-consumer digital channels including organic social media, email newsletters, content marketing through 397 destination guides and itineraries, and referral partnerships with Experience Oz (promotional deals using code SUNNY100) and Jetstar Airways (direct flights from Auckland for New Zealand travelers). The organization's primary customer segment is leisure tourists seeking beach, hinterland, adventure, and wellness experiences; a secondary segment serves corporate event planners. Services to consumers are free; Visit Sunshine Coast does not price or transact tourism services directly but acts as a promotional funnel to operators.

Name

Visit Sunshine Coast

Legal name

Sunshine Coast

Website

https://visitsunshinecoast.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Visit Sunshine Coast is a government-funded, non-profit destination marketing organization that promotes Queensland's Sunshine Coast region through a digital platform aggregating 1,600+ accommodation, attraction, event, and dining listings for leisure tourists and corporate event planners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Destination Management (Ground Handling & Onsite Operations) (THAHADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Inbound DMCs (Full-Service Ground Handling) (THAKAEAA), Destination & Itinerary Management (DMC-Led Experiences, Excursions, VIP Access) (THAHANAE), Experiential & Cultural Programming (Tours, Activities, CSR/Voluntourism) (THAHADAF)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Tourism promotion
• Travel information
• Accommodation listings
• Regional tourism

Headquarters

HQ city

Maroochydore

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by Sunshine Coast Council and Tourism and Events Queensland to promote tourism to the Sunshine Coast region

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Visit Sunshine Coast is the official government-funded destination marketing organization (DMO) for the Sunshine Coast region in Queensland, Australia. It operates a unified digital tourism platform (visitsunshinecoast.com) that aggregates 1,611+ listings covering accommodation, attractions and tours, food and drink, events, and curated travel guides. The platform delivers destination information, deal promotion, sustainability tools, and travel planning resources for leisure tourists and business event planners at no direct cost to the consumer.

Product overview

Visit Sunshine Coast operates as a comprehensive tourism destination marketing platform providing a unified digital experience for visitors planning trips to Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The platform consists of a central destination website with integrated modules for accommodation bookings, attractions and tours, food and drink experiences, events discovery, and special deals. Supporting features include a sustainability program with carbon footprint tools and a collection of curated travel guides. The site showcases multiple coastal destinations (Noosa, Caloundra, Mooloolaba, Kawana, Coolum Beach, Maroochydore) and the Hinterland region, all promoted through the unified Sunshine Moments branding. The platform partners with Experience Oz for deal distribution and uses the ATDW (Australian Tourism Data Warehouse) for inventory syndication.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visit Sunshine Coast Destination Platform

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Experience OzcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMarketing partnership offering visitors $100 savings on eligible Sunshine Coast experiences with code SUNNY100. Partnership enables promotional campaigns to drive tourism bookings.
• Jetstar AirwayscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAirline partner providing direct flights from Auckland to Sunshine Coast, operating year-round three times weekly. Enables New Zealand market access for tourism.
• Kabi Kabi First Nation peoplescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraditional Owners acknowledged for lands of the Kabi Kabi First Nation peoples, with recognition of continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community.
• Jinibara First Nation peoplescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraditional Owners acknowledged for lands of the Jinibara First Nation peoples, with recognition of continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tourism Australia:
• Tourism Western Australia:
• Visit Victoria: State-level DMO for Victoria. Comparable in structure and content-platform model to a state-funded DMO, but with a much larger state-wide mandate and budget.
• South Australian Tourism Commission:
• Destination NSW:
• Tourism and Events Queensland: State-level DMO that is both a direct funding partner and a peer; responsible for marketing Queensland as a destination. Directly comparable in mandate and content-platform model, but operates at a much larger state-wide scale.

Direct peers

• Tourism Noosa: Sub-regional DMO covering Noosa within the Sunshine Coast. Operates an overlapping destination marketing and accommodation/events platform for a sub-set of the same geography, with very similar products, partners, and content modules.
• Destination Gold Coast: Neighboring Queensland regional DMO marketing the Gold Coast. Closely comparable regional DMO model with overlapping leisure/beach positioning and similar content, accommodation, and event modules.
• Tourism Tropical North Queensland: Regional DMO for Tropical North Queensland (Cairns/Great Barrier Reef). Comparable mandate of marketing a nature-anchored Queensland destination with similar product modules and eco/adventure content.

Regional players

• VisitCanberra: DMO marketing the ACT/Canberra region. Comparable in operating a destination marketing platform with content, accommodation, events, and deals modules, but serves a different (non-coastal, government/domestic-event-driven) market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sunshinecoastoz
• Facebookfacebook.com/sunshinecoastQLD

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Visit Sunshine Coast