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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2806 ..

MR DE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, in addition to the cooperative ventures with the private sector organisations listed, Canberra Tourism has instituted a number of successful programs which target the Japanese market and aid in the promotion of the national capital and our region. These include the hosting of nine Japanese journalists - predominantly business and travel writers - since last year. This has resulted in a Canberra feature appearing in the largest daily business newspaper in the world, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. This newspaper is read by almost nine million people. Another journalist hosted to Canberra from JP Australia, a monthly Japanese tourism magazine, compiled a 10-page article on Canberra. This appeared in the June 1996 edition of the magazine and Canberra also featured on the cover of this issue.

Through participation at the recent Australian Tourism Exchange, Canberra Tourism's international sales manager met with 12 representatives from Japan. After the Australian Tourism Exchange, seven of Sydney's leading inbound Japanese operators were hosted on a comprehensive familiarisation of Canberra. Further follow-up was done, with sales calls being made to inbound Japanese operators in Queensland. In October, the preliminary work done at the Australian Tourism Exchange will be built upon as Canberra Tourism will join the Japan-Australia mission organised by the Australian Tourist Commission. The mission will travel to Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya and meet with over 300 Japanese delegates representing 145 wholesale tour companies.

Notable progress has also been made in the promotion of Canberra to the specialised education segment of the Japanese market. There currently exists a wide range of linkages between Canberra and Japan, particularly concerning educational activities. The ACT Department of Education and Training and the Nara Board of Education have an active and successful teacher exchange program. There are already in place a number of sister-school relationships between kindergarten, infants, primary and secondary schools and colleges in Canberra and Nara. The ACT Department of Education and Training has also established well respected and highly successful short-, medium- and long-term study programs for students from Japan and other Asian countries.

To build on this potential market, the CIT, in conjunction with Canberra Tourism, has produced a study tours and specialised short course brochure detailing a range of courses designed specifically for the Asian market. To augment this publication, a series of suggested Canberra itineraries has also been prepared by Canberra Tourism for distribution with the CIT publication. Discussions are also currently under way between the ACT Department of Education and Canberra Tourism to examine ways of enhancing sister-school relationships between Canberra and Nara. Consultation and liaison work is also being done with the Japan Travel Bureau and Japanese inbound operator Kintetsu to further expand the Canberra schools exchange program.

It is evident, Mr Speaker, that the ACT Government's commitment to marketing Canberra as a tourism destination in Japan is moving forward strongly, with spectacular achievements as a result. Our sister-city relationship with Nara is vitally important, as it presents Canberra with a wider range of opportunities in the economic, educational, sporting and cultural fields. The Chief Minister's visit demonstrated that Canberra has

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