Page 2464 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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The Asian Cup is estimated to bring 45,000 international visitors to Australia and to deliver an expected attendance of half a million across the 32 matches. With seven matches, Canberra is well placed to leverage from this opportunity. The Cricket World Cup is the third largest international team sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup. The event will be broadcast to more than 200 countries, enabling Canberra to be showcased before an estimated global audience of around a billion people. A report by Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned in 2012 to examine the benefits of the Cricket World Cup, estimated that hosting three full matches and a range of warm-up matches would generate between $19 million and $35 million in additional, direct expenditure for a host city.
The ACT government has also invested in this budget additional funding in our cooperative airlines stimulus fund, and this is to encourage and support international and domestic marketing campaigns associated with new flights, both domestic and international, to our city. This investment in aviation growth is part of the government’s 2020 tourism strategy.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Minister, how does the budget invest in visit Canberra to promote the ACT as a tourism destination?
MR BARR: Tourism currently contributes $1.8 billion to the territory economy and is one of the largest private sector employers in the city, the industry supporting 17,000 jobs. In recognition of its importance to the economy, the budget provided more than $8.5 million to grow the tourism sector and more funding to support the tourism 2020 strategy, which is being directed towards the domestic marketing strategy 2013-15 with a particular focus on promoting Canberra’s key arts and culture, food and wine, outdoors, nature and family-friendly experiences.
Specific programs like the Australian Tourism Awards winning human brochure and cooperative industry and media partnerships are some of the activities that this additional funding will support. We will also be investing in gateway entry signage to the territory to welcome visitors to the city. Funding will also be allocated to activities to encourage a range of economic benefits associated with business tourism, a range of leisure-based activities that go beyond the conference and seek to maximise the conversion of business event travel into future leisure travel.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Minister, how does the budget invest in further work to enhance the experience of visitors to our very successful National Arboretum?
MR BARR: The budget delivers nearly $1.5 million in funding over the next two years to complete work on the central hub of the arboretum, the events terrace.
The government will complete the landscaping and visitor infrastructure at the events terrace, which links the visitor centre, the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion and the
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