A NEW president will soon be welcomed to the Whitsunday Coast Chamber of Commerce after Kevin Collins announced he would not seek re-election this week.

The decision on a new president will be made at the AGM and Mr Collins says he is encouraging interested local business owners to nominate for the position.

"Twelve months in the role has been a great experience," he said.

"The reason I went into the role was to raise the profile of the Chamber of Commerce, be a little bit controversial, be a little bit assertive and be in people's face a little bit but there's nothing wrong with that.

"We make the jobs and our voice is important, if we don't exist, jobs don't exist. Small business creates the bulk of the jobs in this community."

Mr Collins said the role of tourism in the region was integral to that.

"I often read in the letters section, complaints about 'tourism' receiving special treatment but I would encourage anybody who thinks they are 'not in tourism' to apply a little test on the levels of separation between your life and this industry," he said.

"As simple as what do you do for a job, what services do you use and enjoy, where do you shop and what would change in your life if this industry did not exist in Airlie Beach. Tourism by its very nature is a collection of a large number of small and medium size businesses which are very labour intensive and all are interconnected."

Mr Collins said he would now be to developing a new tourism based business requiring full time commitment and travel over the next 12 months.