Output 3.2 VisitCanberra

Output 3.2 VisitCanberra

Overview

The directorate creates and implements a range of innovative tourism marketing and development programs in partnership with local industry, national bodies and institutions, which aim to support the Territory’s economic development through increased visitation to the ACT and region.

Highlights

During 2017-18, the directorate:

• managed an extensive program of activity to support the announcement that Canberra was ranked 3rd in the world in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel Guide 2018;
• through the 2017-18 Major Event Fund (MEF), supported a total of six major exhibitions and events with a total investment of $1 million, including:
  • Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters at the National Museum of Australia;
  • Hyper Real at the National Gallery of Australia;
  • Summernats 2018;
  • Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia; and
  • the Enlighten Night Noodle Markets 2018;
• partnered with the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) to deliver an Export Ready Accelerator Program for six Canberra tourism businesses, providing a learning pathway for the businesses who are committed to building international-readiness and entering the export market;
• in conjunction with operating the 2017 Floriade Information Marquee the Canberra and Region Visitors Centre (CRVC) launched Shop CBR. Shop CBR provided an opportunity for local and regional suppliers to showcase and sell their produce and products in a retail space managed by the CRVC;
• won the Visitor Information Services award at the 2017 Canberra and Region Tourism Awards for the service provided by the Canberra and Region Visitors Centre, and went on to compete at the Qantas National Tourism Awards;
• delivered:
  • projects, under the Commonwealth Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure program, including the National Conservatory at the Australian National Botanic Gardens; the Safari Bistro at the National Zoo & Aquarium; and developing premium visitor experiences at Mulligans Flat and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve;
  • the 2017 Canberra Region Tourism Awards in partnership with the National Capital Attractions Association;
  • key activations and ongoing marketing campaign activity utilising the VisitCanberra destination platform One Good Thing After Another, to build awareness of Canberra as a tourism destination, leveraging the Lonely Planet Best in Travel award accolade, activations included;
    • Canberra in a Can, which involved large-scale activation sites in Sydney and Melbourne;
    • the Canberra/Can’tberra Quiz, designed for digital engagement;
    • large-scale brand awareness campaigns including television, outdoor and digital advertising and a variety of content partnerships;
    • several commercial marketing partnerships with the airline and travel industries, including Virgin and Tigerair, and online booking platform TripAdvisor; and
    • in partnership with Singapore Airlines, five international ongoing marketing campaigns across four international markets with the purpose to build awareness of Canberra as a destination and increase the awareness of Canberra’s diversity of experiences;
• attended:
  • the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) from 16-19 April 2018 in Adelaide along with nine industry partners. Conducting more than 170 one-on-one meetings with international buyers from established and emerging markets;
  • the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) Media Marketplace event in Adelaide on
    13-14 April 2018 to pitch Canberra region experiences and story ideas to 80 international and domestic media;
  • a number of trade shows in Australia and key international markets, conducting more than 180 one-on-one appointments with international buyers including India Travel Mission, Greater China Travel Mission, and Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Meeting Place; and
  • the Corroboree West trade training workshop hosted by Tourism Australia, providing training to 300 travel agents from the UK, Europe and America;
• welcomed:
  • the inaugural Qatar Airways service from Doha to Canberra in February 2018; Qatar Airways now operates a daily service to Canberra, connecting the Capital with 150 destinations worldwide;
  • the new daily service from Singapore to Canberra (with a transit in Sydney) by Singapore Airlines in May 2018; this included a new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft deployed on the route; and
  • the expansion of Tigerair services connecting Canberra to Brisbane and increase in frequency to 8 flights per week between Canberra and Melbourne;
• hosted:
  • fourteen domestic and 18 international media visits through the Visiting Journalist and Influencer Program;
  • five familiarisation visits for travel trade during the year, from the key international markets of: China, India, Malaysia, UK and NZ;
  • Tourism Australia’s Global Leadership Team Meeting in October 2017;
  • China-Australia Year of Tourism Ambassador, Xiubo Wu and his family, in partnership with Tourism Australia, on a media visit to Canberra in July/August 2017; and
  • the third Destination Canberra Conference at the QT Canberra in February 2018, attended by over 210 ACT and Canberra Region delegates;

The directorate exceeded its three 2017-18 accountability indicators against this output:

• ACT Accommodation – Room Occupancy Rate – the target was to deliver an outcome greater than the national average. The directorate met its 2017-18 accountability target against this output. For the 12 months ending May 2018, the STR Global estimated National average for room occupancy is 76.8%, compared with 77.3% for the ACT;
• Canberra and Region Visitors Centre - the target for the overall visitor satisfaction with customer service levels was to achieve an outcome greater than 85%. Surveys are collected daily and for the period 1 July 2017 – 31 May 2018 a total of 1,328 surveys had been completed. The directorate met its target by more than 13%, against this output with overall satisfaction for this period currently at 97.6%; and
• visitcanberra.com.au website - the target for visits to the site was 1,300,000. As at 30 May 2018 it had received 1,621,154 visits for the 2017-18 year. The directorate met and exceeded its
  2017-18 accountability target against this output, the visitcanberra.com website, or average approximately 134,400 per month with an increase in traffic from the USA. The estimated number of visits to 30 June 2018 is therefore 1,612,800.

Future Direction

In 2018-19 the directorate will continue to:

• promote Canberra as a short break destination Under the One Good Thing After Another marketing platform;
• work with airline partners and industry to grow international visitation from key markets;
• support the development of new experiences and investment in new products including hotel investment;
• actively pursue opportunities to grow new international and domestic aviation to make access easier for the domestic market and connect to new destinations internationally;
• invest in the Major Event Fund to support events that have the ability to drive significant visitation outcomes; and
• promote demand driving activities that will focus on ensuring the ACT’s Tourism 2020 target to grow the value of overnight visitation to $2.5 billion by 2020 is achieved.

Further information can be obtained from

Kareena Arthy
Deputy Director-General
Economic Development
+ 61 2 6207 5564
Kareena.Arthy@act.gov.au

Jonathan Kobus
A/g Director
VisitCanberra
+ 61 2 6205 3185
Jonathan.Kobus@act.gov.au