Overview
The directorate, through VisitCanberra, develops, implements and evaluates a suite of innovative tourism and events 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
In 2018-19 the directorate:
- managed a comprehensive campaign across digital, social, PR and print media channels to support Canberra’s ranking of 3rd in the world in the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel Guide 2018;
- partnered with national attractions and a key national media outlet to deliver a comprehensive campaign aimed to enhance Canberra’s positioning as a cultural city;
- delivered destination marketing campaign activity utilising the VisitCanberra destination platform One Good Thing After Another, to build awareness of Canberra as a tourism destination, including across television, radio, outdoor, social and digital channels;
- through the 2018-19 Major Event Fund (MEF), supported a total of six major exhibitions and events with a total investment of $1 million including:
- Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia;
- Love and Desire at the National Gallery of Australia ;
- Rome – City and Empire at the National Museum of Australia ;
- Centenary of Armistice at the Australian War Memorial;
- Summernats 2019; and
- Westside Story to be held at Canberra Theatre;
- launched an international markets’ plan for 2018-2020 that outlines the strategic and tactical initiatives to support growth of international tourism;
- appointed an officer in Singapore to support the growth from key international markets of Singapore, Malaysia, and India;
- supported the involvement of three Canberra tourism operators – Australian War Memorial, Australian Parliament House and National Gallery of Australia – in the “Cultural Attractions of Australia” collective within Tourism Australia’s Signature Experiences of Australia Program;
- delivered the second Accelerator Program that supported six Canberra tourism operators in developing suitable visitor experiences for domestic and international travellers;
- delivered 16 international marketing campaigns across five international markets with the purpose to build awareness of Canberra as a destination and increase the awareness of Canberra’s diversity of experiences;
- promoted Canberra as a destination through participation in:
- the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) from 8-12 April 2019 in Perth along with six industry partners, conducting more than 200 one-on-one meeting with international buyers from core and emerging markets;
- an additional eight international market trade shows and completing over 450 one-on-one trade appointments at Singapore Sales Mission; India Travel Mission; Australian Tourism Export Council Meeting Place; Hong Kong One Voice; Malaysia Roadshow; Singapore Roadshow; and
- the Corroboree East trade training workshop hosted by Tourism Australia, providing training to 300 travel agents from the UK, Europe and America;
- leveraged opportunities to market Canberra internationally by hosting:
- five domestic and seven international media visits through the Visiting Journalists and Influencer Program;
- ten international trade familiarisations with 95 delegates from core and emerging markets to showcase Canberra and its experiences; and
- Singapore Airlines West Asia and Africa Meeting in November 2018;
- commenced a strategic review of the whole of city brand – Brand Canberra – looking at its vision and associated brand use guidelines, to provide clarity as to its purpose and importance in the marketplace, alongside other relevant and established Canberra-centric brands; and commenced a restructure of Brand Canberra’s website – canberra.com – to prepare it to become the primary digital gateway for promoting Canberra as a destination across multiple inward investment streams;
- opened the VisitCanberra Information Booth located at the Canberra International Airport. The booth opens daily 8am – 11.30pm with digital screens, booking portals and brochures available 24 hours; and
- welcomed the Canberra and Region Visitors Centre (CRVC) being awarded Visitor Information Services winner at the 2018 Canberra and Region Tourism Awards and a Silver Award in the Visitor Information Service category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
The directorate exceeded all three 2018-19 accountability indicators against this output, specifically:
- Canberra and Region Visitors Centre – achieved an overall visitor satisfaction rate for customer service levels of 98.4%, higher than the 87% target;
- ACT Accommodation Room Occupancy Rate – was 77.7%, which was greater than the targeted national average of 74.2%; and
- Number of visits to the ‘visitcanberra’ website – there were almost 2,000,000 visits to the visitcanberra.com.au website in 2018-19, more than the target of 1,300,000 visits.
Future Direction
In 2019-20 the directorate will:
- 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 MEF to support events that have the ability to drive significant visitation outcomes;
- promote demand driving activities that will focus on ensuring the ACT’s Tourism 2020 target to grow the value of overnight expenditure to $2.5 billion by 2020 is maintained; and
- lead the use and impact of the whole of city brand, Brand Canberra, for the ACT government to ensure Canberra as a destination is represented in a consistent and compelling way across all inward investment streams.
Further information can be obtained from
Kareena Arthy
Deputy Director-General
Economic Development
+ 61 2 6207 5564
Kareena.Arthy@act.gov.au
Jonathan Kobus
Executive Branch Manager
VisitCanberra
+ 61 2 6205 3185
Jonathan.Kobus@act.gov.au