Page 3818 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 October 1991
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Mr Kaine has asked some specific questions about tourism, and it is a matter that has concerned me as well. I am happy to provide him with some further information. He has quite rightly said that tourism takings were down in the June quarter. It is a fact that there was a fall in room occupancy rates for all accommodation from 54.2 per cent to 50.3 per cent from the June quarter of 1990 to the June quarter of 1991. However, it is also the case that for four- and five-star establishments there was a slight increase in room occupancy rates in that quarter, from 53.8 per cent to 55.3 per cent. So, there was that slight ray of hope during the quarter.
There was a reduction in the attractions attendance figure for the June quarter 1991. The figure was 1.103 million this quarter and for the June quarter of the previous year it was 1.426 million. As Mr Kaine points out, that is a decline of some 22.6 per cent. There are, however, some factors that ought to be taken into account in looking at that figure. The first is that there is a national trend in a recession for tourism figures to decline generally, and that has happened in the ACT as well.
There are some further factors that apply specifically to the ACT. One of the biggest attractions in the ACT is the National Gallery, and its attendance figures for the June quarter were down quite markedly over those for the previous year. The gallery experienced a decline of some 70 per cent in visitor levels. I think we can attribute that largely to the fact that in the June 1990 quarter they had had one of their blockbuster exhibitions - the Ancient Treasures exhibition from the British Museum. You could therefore imply that the June 1990 figure for the National Gallery was very much inflated because of that enormously attractive and popular exhibition.
A further factor that ought to be taken into account is that in 1990 the Easter long weekend fell during the June quarter, but in 1991 the Easter long weekend fell during the March quarter. So, there is a further difference there by virtue of the fact that on a long weekend, when Canberra has a lot of visitors, we were not measuring the same time period in 1990 as we were in 1991.
There is also the question of airline deregulation. Sadly, it is true that visitors to the ACT have not had quite the same advantage in airline deregulation as have visitors to other tourist destinations. The discounting of air fares that took place generally has not taken place to a marked degree to the ACT. That is a bit of a disadvantage we have had; obviously, the cheaper fares to other destinations were attractive to people wishing to take a holiday or make a visit somewhere. So, there are some specific issues that help to explain the tourism figures for June 1991.
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