Page 1556 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 April 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Floriade, and its night-time counterpart NightFest, took out the number one spot in the recent “Like Canberra” campaign. Almost 135,000 votes were cast in the “Like Canberra” online campaign to find the top 100 reasons why people enjoy living in the ACT.
This year’s Enlighten festival, staged from 1 to 9 March, continued its renewed focus on national attractions and was a centrepiece for the centenary celebrations. This year’s event featured late-night openings at 15 attractions, spectacular architectural projections and entertainment precincts within Canberra’s parliamentary triangle.
Enlighten added an array of night-time activities to Canberra’s birthday celebrations, providing a spectacular new perspective on some of Australia’s most famous attractions with fun and memorable experiences.
The evaluation report for the event is yet to be finalised. However, early results indicate that record crowds were achieved. Enlighten continues to grow in stature and is emerging as the backbone of a future major cultural event.
The National Multicultural Festival is another major event that boosts the ACT economy both directly, through visitor spending with local businesses and tourism, and indirectly, through the promotion of the ACT as a multicultural hub and preferred destination for international visitors and students.
The event attracts tens of thousands of attendees from Canberra and the local region, and in addition about 10,000 visitors stayed in Canberra and attended the festival. These visitors stayed for an average of nine nights. For interstate and international visitors who came to Canberra and attended the festival, the total expenditure is estimated at approximately $2.1 million.
Over the last couple of years, the National Multicultural Festival has built up a positive brand presence, both nationally and internationally, through social media and word of mouth. Social media marketing has led to the National Multicultural Festival management team being approached by other Australian jurisdictions and international representatives keen to re-create the success of the festival elsewhere.
The National Multicultural Festival also works with international students to provide volunteer interpreting services. These international students then share their positive experience with friends and families, both in Australia and in their countries of origin.
While often not recognised as major contributors, amateur sport championships often provide huge boosts to our tourism industry. With participants and their entourages travelling from across Australia and overseas to compete, these events provide a boost to our restaurants, hotels, shops and attractions.
This year there are dozens of these events occurring in Canberra, and I would like to name a few. The Australian Masters Athletics Championships, held over Easter, attracted 640 participants, including 500 from interstate. The Australian Masters
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video