Page 276 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 May 1989
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When surveys show that only 10 per cent of tourists see our city as the national capital we certainly have some catching up to do. It will be interesting to see what the surveys say about whether this Assembly is an interesting place to visit.
Without wanting to simplify the subject too much, Mr Speaker, I feel that there are two major areas on which we need to concentrate if we are to turn this attitude around. I refer, as the Deputy Chief Minister has already done, to the National Convention Centre and the 80,000-plus students who come to the national capital each year. The aim here is really the same. Firstly, we must get them here, then we must seek to have them return for a longer period to pick up the economic benefits already referred to by the Deputy Chief Minister.
The final report that the NCDC produced - members will note it is covered in black - "The Canberra Tourism Strategy" had these economic benefits well and truly documented. The same publication reported that the average stay in Canberra was 2.5 days. That is what we must increase to improve the economic benefits to our economy.
It was for this reason, Mr Speaker, that the Rally was prepared to announce, before any other party had made a similar commitment during the election campaign, that we should substantially increase the amount being spent on promotion of Canberra as a tourist venue.
However, just to increase the figure was not enough. There was a need for the industry to participate fully in this program. Once again I refer to the "Trends" bulletin, which acknowledges this fact and which makes some suggestions without providing a clear recommendation. However, I would submit that the message to the industry is that it should get itself together, not only within the various components of the industry - for example, the accommodation industry - but also among the various sectors of the industry. It should form a bipartisan approach to operating - that is, from the five-star hotel managers down to the smaller motels in our city.
It is in the industry's interest to make a major slice of that 87 per cent of the total tourist spending from the domestic market come our way. Frankly, if we cannot set up a promotional arrangement whereby each sector participates in the promotion of what is a natural tourist destination, we do not deserve to have a tourist industry.
Let us briefly consider some of those national pluses before we move on. This is the capital of our nation; that in itself is an important plus. We have here four distinct seasons which not only provide some variation to our scenery but also allow those who like a change in climate to experience this. Canberra is located within easy reach of the majority of our population centres. One just has to look at a map of the south-east of Australia to realise
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