Page 2763 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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tourism portfolio. The government is of course listening, investing and delivering in the tourism portfolio and, as I think a number of speakers have referred to in their contributions, all parties in this chamber recognise the importance of the tourism industry to the territory.
The government continues its engagement, listening to the tourism industry, listening to Canberra Convention Bureau and, most importantly, listening to the views of the thousands of visitors who come to Canberra and the region.
The government continues its investment—investment in marketing campaigns, in events and in new festivals. The government continues through this budget its investment in the city’s tourism infrastructure and in new campaigns—everything from Wrapt in Winter to Culture Shock to our support of the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition—and our investment in events and festivals, from Floriade and Floriade NightFest to our new autumn event. We continue to invest in infrastructure such as Stromlo forest park, Exhibition Park and the arboretum, and to support new, low-cost accommodation in the territory.
The government continues its record of delivery. We have very strong support from the government for the tourism industry. We recognise its contribution of around $1.3 billion to the territory economy and the fact that it employs over 13,000 Canberrans. It remains a growth industry for the territory, with almost 500 new jobs being created in the tourism industry in recent years. In this year’s budget, the government is providing an extra $2.1 million over four years for our city’s premier tourist event, Floriade. This extra funding brings the total budget for Australian Capital Tourism to over $18 million. Floriade continues to be the premier event in our tourism calendar and it is the key contributor in the tourism calendar to our local economy.
In 2009 Floriade contributed $22.7 million to the territory economy, making it the second most successful Floriade ever, second only to the record-breaking $25.3 million for the 2008 event. To put that in context, 2009 was set against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and what I think we would all agree was a pretty poor run of weather through that September—I think some of the coldest September days in 40 years—but the event still attracted an attendance of 362,684 people through the gates. That was down a little on the previous year, which was just over 400,000.
Floriade NightFest has now been running for two years and has attracted over 46,000 attendees in that time, and the government’s view is that it is essential we continue to invest in this event for visitors and also for our local community. That is why this budget contains $1.8 million over four years for the future delivery of Floriade and Floriade NightFest and a special allocation of $300,000 for a concept design for the development and improvement of Commonwealth Park. We know that this investment will continue to maintain one of our city’s most cherished local events and continue to bring more visitors to Canberra and the region.
2010 saw the first year of our autumn event, and it was undoubtedly a success, off the back of the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition. The National Gallery’s results here
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