Victoria Gives International Tourism $20 Million Boost
The Brumby Labor Government has welcomed a $20 million boost from the Commonwealth Government to help attract more tourists to Australia.
The Tourism Australia package will provide support for tourism initiatives in a number of key source markets for Victoria including New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Korea and Singapore.
Victoria’s Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said the funding boost would help support tourism operators in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
“It’s fantastic to see the Commonwealth Government investing in the promotion of Australia to some of Victoria’s key markets,” Mr Holding said.
“While most other parts of Australia have seen a downturn in tourism, Victoria is showing resilience in the face of the Global Financial Crisis and the devastating Black Saturday bushfires.
“This funding will further assist the work being done by the Brumby Labor Government, Tourism Victoria and tourism operators to boost economic activity and protect local jobs.
“Tourism is big business for Victoria, with international tourists contributing $3.8 billion to Victoria’s economy for the year ending September 2009 – an 11.8 per cent increase on the previous year.
“We want more and more people from around Australia and overseas to visit Melbourne and regional Victoria, to experience our world-class cultural and sporting events, outstanding food and wine, shopping, theatre and beautiful villages.’’
New Zealand is Victoria’s number one market for international visitation, with our State welcoming 231,000 New Zealand visitors to Victoria in the year ending September 2009.
China is forecast to become Victoria’s largest international market by 2014 and is already providing a significant economic boost. In the year ending September 2009, 155,600 Chinese visitors came to Victoria and spent $494 million, an increase of over 30 per cent compared to the previous year.
The latest International Visitor Survey also showed strong growth in visitors from Malaysia, up 40 per cent and Singapore, up 12.1 per cent.
Mr Holding said Tourism Australia’s initiatives would also support the Victorian business events sector, with proposed campaigns in the State to promote regional meeting destinations.
“We expect our strong tourism performance to continue with a range of major sporting and cultural events, an increasing number of business events at the new Melbourne Convention Centre and a growing international profile and brand presence,” he said.
The latest push by Tourism Australia supports the work being done by Tourism Victoria to attract international and interstate visitors to Victoria.
Topics: Australia, beautiful villages, Black Saturday, Brumby Labor Government, Bushfires, business, China, Commonwealth, cultural events, economic activity, economic development, economic downturn, economic growth, economic recovery, Economy, food, funding, global financial crisis, Governance, government, international visitation, International Visitor Survey, interstate visitors, investment, Korea, Malaysia, markets, Melbourne, Melbourne Convention Centre, New Zealand, recession, shopping, Singapore, sporting events, sports, theatre, tourism, Tourism Victoria, Victoria, wine
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