Page 872 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 16 March 2010
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unprecedented demand, the exhibition will be now extended by a further two weeks, to close on 18 April. I am happy to advise the Assembly that attendance at the exhibition now well exceeds 320,000 people. The exhibition broke the old attendance record for the gallery of 241,770 and it broke that record on 26 February, some seven weeks before the exhibition will now close. Some quick estimates suggest that the economic impact of the exhibition for the territory economy will now be somewhere in excess of $60 million.
The ACT government is committed to ensuring that Australian Capital Tourism delivers concrete economic outcomes for the people of the ACT. From day one the territory government has worked closely with the National Gallery to maximise the tourism and economic benefits of this major international cultural event. The National Gallery of Australia has leveraged the ACT government’s marketing investment of $500,000 by securing national media partnerships worth more than $2 million, bringing the total of the interstate marketing campaign for this exhibition to more than $2.5 million.
I would like to take this opportunity to put on record the government’s thanks to Australian Capital Tourism and the National Gallery of Australia for making such a success of this exhibition. I am sure all members of the Assembly, even the whingeing, carping shadow minister, would agree that it is fantastic that so many people from outside the territory are enjoying our beautiful city this autumn and enjoying our cultural treasures. I am sure we are all grateful that they are spending their money in our hotels, in our shops and in our restaurants.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Porter, a supplementary?
MS PORTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the minister tell the Assembly how the people of Canberra have responded to these events?
MR BARR: I am happy to report that the community has responded very well to the Masterpieces blockbuster exhibition at the gallery. The hospitality industry is clearly very happy that we have had an estimated additional 240,000 people visiting Canberra over the period of the exhibition. I quote from no more authoritative a source than Steven Fanner, from the Australian Hotels Association, who recently observed that the exhibition is:
… clearly having an impact on the economy of the ACT and it’s excellent that this decision has been made and that there’ll be two more weeks of people coming from all over Australia to take advantage of their last chance to see these paintings before they leave the country.
As I mentioned earlier, the estimates now are that about $60 million will flow into the ACT economy during the period of the exhibition. As everyone knows, more tourists to the ACT means more jobs for Canberrans. I was delighted to read the editorial in the Canberra Times last Friday, which said:
The flow-on economic benefits of the exhibition—to other Canberra tourist attractions, hotels and restaurants—have been considerable. There is no doubting that Masterpieces has been skilfully marketed, but the publicity is well justified. More than 95 per cent of visitors, most from interstate, have rated it as “impressive” or “very impressive”.
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