Page 1724 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 13 May 2015
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MR BARR (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Urban Renewal and Minister for Tourism and Events) (4.06): I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) with significant investments from both the Commonwealth and ACT Governments, Canberra’s Centenary celebrations in 2013 were an outstanding success drawing historically high numbers of visitors to the ACT;
(b) the 2012-2013 tourism figures were heavily influenced by the core Centenary activities in the first six months of 2013. A direct comparison between the 2012-2013 tourism figures and subsequent figures does not provide an accurate reflection of the ACT’s longer term tourism performance;
(c) the Federal Government’s contraction of the Commonwealth Public Service has been a significant cause of the recent decrease in business travel to the ACT;
(d) specific programs like the second phase of the Australian Tourism Award winning Human Brochure campaign and cooperative industry and media partnerships are examples of how the ACT Government is helping stimulate demand from interstate and international markets;
(e) major events supported by the ACT Government including Floriade, Enlighten, Blockbuster Exhibitions, the T20 Cricket Big Bash Final, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 matches and AFC 2015 Asian Cup football matches continue to attract interstate and international visitors; and
(f) the local tourism industry is now well placed to leverage the significant tourism opportunities that come from being the national capital; and
(2) calls on the Government to continue to work towards the goals of the Tourism 2020 Strategy.”.
Our centenary year was indeed a very big year for Canberra, with our tourism industry playing a very big part in bringing visitors to the capital. Over two million domestic overnight visitors came to Canberra in the year to December 2013. This increase was driven largely by the outstanding performance of our leisure sector, with the ACT’s domestic overnight holiday visitors up by 39 per cent in the centenary year. Visitor nights associated with these holiday visitors were also up by 26 per cent for the corresponding period. Australians visiting Canberra in 2013 contributed an estimated $1.2 billion to the territory economy, an increase of $131 million on the 2012 result.
The concentration of event activity in our city during the centenary year clearly provided a range of compelling reasons to visit the city. Highlights included the city hosting the Australian cricket team in a one-day international match for the very first
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