Page 3063 - Week 09 - Thursday, 21 September 2006
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In the main, you can measure it. The degree varies, depending on which report you want to go to, but there is a return. We need to know how the changes to ACTC will affect tourism in the ACT and what we need to do very quickly is to monitor what the impact of the cuts will do to the ACT. It will be interesting to see what the domestic figures for the March quarter say when they are available.
That being said, we all know Floriade is a great thing. It is a wonderful thing. It must continue. But it has got to be worked out. Minister, in that regard, well done. I will have friends coming here and staying throughout most of the school holidays, so we are going to take some of their Queensland dollars and invest them in the ACT. One of the reasons they are coming is to bring their kids to see Floriade. I think that that says that we have got something that we can sell right around the country. Let’s just make sure that we have got the dollars behind it to make it as effective as we can.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Industrial Relations) (4.11): I begin by thanking Ms MacDonald for raising this matter of public importance and acknowledging her ongoing interest in Floriade and in the tourism industry. I note that Mr Smyth did fire somewhat of a cheap shot at Ms MacDonald. It was, I think, a little unfair. In seeking to go to an authoritative source to present information, I think Ms MacDonald did the right thing. You would perhaps accuse her if she had not sought to research an appropriate document.
Nonetheless, I think it is important that we focus on the positives here in relation to what Floriade does bring to our city and how it is such an important event in our tourism calendar. In fact, I think it is our most successful event. It is now truly a national and international drawcard. As Ms MacDonald said, it is Australia’s premier spring festival. It did attract over 356,000 visitors last year.
To address Mr Smyth’s comment about the disparity between the figures that are available in terms of the total number of visitors to Floriade vis-a-vis the targets in the budget papers, it reflects the difference between the local visitation and the international and interstate visitors, who would be the tourists. So, when you combine the two figures of local visitation plus tourists, you get the total figure of 356,000, and the figure that is reported in the budget papers in relation to our tourism activity reflects the number of tourists, people not from the ACT, who visited the event. That is the difference between the two figures, Mr Smyth. That is something I would have thought would have been reasonably obvious. Nonetheless, thank you for raising the issue and seeking clarification.
Mr Smyth: It just says “visitors” in your document.
MR BARR: Indeed. Of course the government is seeking to build on the success of last year’s event and to attract even more people through this year’s. However, we do acknowledge that petrol prices, such as they are, may play a role in reducing the number of visitors that we get from the surrounding region this year. So far, the indications have been positive and the first weekend has seen some outstanding results. We can be very thankful for the good weather, and may it continue for the duration of the month.
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