New stats from the independent Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) shows Victoria is set to experience an increase in domestic and international visitation over the next few years.

International visitor nights to Victoria are expected to grow by about four per cent per year over the next eight years, based on national figures, with even stronger growth in regional Victoria than Melbourne.

On the domestic front, there has been a nationwide upturn in domestic tourism after a decade of decline, and Victoria is a beneficiary of this trend, with a higher than previously predicted increase of 0.5 per cent per year until 2020.

Again, growth in visitation to regional Victoria is predicted to be slightly higher than growth in Melbourne.

The major negative from the TFC’s forecast was the predicted decline in domestic business travellers to Victoria of nearly three per cent this financial year. The business traveller is an important segment of the visitor market and hopefully we can see this trend reversed in future forecasts.

However the overall picture for Victorian tourism is bright, with trends indicating Australia remains a popular place for international visitors despite global economic turmoil, while Victoria continues to become a more attractive destination for locals seeking a shorter break.

With a significant number of Victoria’s public transport users being short term visitors to the state, the tourism industry has welcomed the launch of the myki Visitor Pack which will offer a ticketing solution to transport users who will be affected by the cessation of the paper ticketing system.

The Visitor Pack will support visitors to the state to easily navigate the city and surrounding suburbs, and will help to drive visitors to Victoria’s tourist attractions and experiences.

Visitors are likely to stay a few days and this solution will make it easy for them to travel to some of the wonderful attractions and experiences we have both in Melbourne and broader Victoria.

Through consultation with the Transport Ticketing Authority, the industry has contributed to the design process of this product that will further encourage increased visitation to Victoria and enhance visitors’ experiences.

The myki Visitor Pack will cater for the more than 20 million annual domestic and international visitors to Victoria, including international students and business travellers.

Exclusively for travellers to Victoria, the Pack will be pre-loaded with travel credit which can be used on trams, trains and bus services and will also include $140 worth of discount vouchers to 15 of Victoria’s top tourist attractions and destinations.

Tourism operators will be invited to sell the Visitor Pack and it will also be available for purchase at Melbourne’s airports and other key visitor hubs such as Visitor Information Centres.

The needs of conference and event organisers are also being investigated as plans to cater for Melbourne’s business visitors are explored.

Dianne Smith is Chief Executive of VTIC, the peak policy council for the Victorian tourism industry, which represents key industry associations, operators and government agencies, providing one united industry voice. Visit the new VTIC website at www.vtic.com.au.

Victoria’s peak tourism body, the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), along with the Victoria Events Industry Council (VEIC), have welcomed the Federal Budget announcement of an Asian Marketing Fund which will drive international investment in Victoria.

The establishment of the Asia Marketing Fund will be a significant move towards increasing trade and tourism relations with countries such as China and India which represent significant growing markets in Victoria.

Unfortunately, some of the gloss of this announcement has been taken away with the announced increase in the passenger movement charge, paid by travellers when they leave Australia. The significant increase of $8 will bring the charge to $55 from 1 July 2012 and may deter our important international visitors.

The investment of $10 million for a new community sports centre in the Olympic Park Precinct in Melbourne is positive news to both the tourism and events industries in Victoria. We are glad the government has recognised the importance of our sporting facilities as a valuable tourist attraction and events facility.

We also welcome the many benefits announced for small business such as the loss carry-back scheme and funding for the instant asset write-off which businesses in the tourism industry will ultimately benefit from.

In particular, the government’s extension of its business support service Enterprise Connect will assist tourism and events operators to identify new growth markets, and will complement the new government commitment of a $61 million Asian Marketing Fund.

Additional funding for Puffing Billy, the Melbourne Park redevelopment, Zoos Victoria, and the continuation of funding for the significant sporting events program are positive initiatives for the tourism and events industries announced in today’s Budget, according to the state’s peak body for tourism, the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC).

What was missing however was dedicated funding for the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre extension which is an important aspect to position the city as the nation’s premier event host to our international business visitors.

We welcome the reduction to WorkCover premiums which the tourism and events industries will benefit from, and broader initiatives such as improved regional road and rail infrastructure will also assist the tourism industry.

While the forecast $155 million surplus next year is positive and will help the state retain its AAA credit rating, it’s disappointing that more attention wasn’t given to an industry that employs 193,000 Victorians and is worth $15.2 billion, along with an events industry worth $2.4 billion.

We’re also yet to see a formal response to the Victoria Competition and Efficiency Competition inquiry. The draft report highlighted many of the issues that are discouraging investment in the tourism industry, particularly challenges for regional operators and we eagerly await the government’s response so we can begin to plan ahead for the future sustainability of the industry.

With the effects of the high Australian dollar impacting on the industry, now is the time government should be investing in further initiatives to promote Victoria, especially in emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia, as well as supporting major events.

Dianne Smith is the Chief Executive of VTIC.

As international interest in Victoria as a tourist destination grows, the tourism industry and businesses alike are calling on the government to turn its investment focus to infrastructure to support this prospective market.

A report from Tourism Research Australia released recently noted that in 2010-11, tourism’s contribution to Australian gross domestic product (GDP) was $73.3 billion, or a 5.2 per cent share of the Australian economy.

Tourism is an important contributor to the nation’s GDP and employment throughout the state.

Major trading partners like China and India offer significant growth markets for tourism. While we struggle with the effects of the high Australian dollar, we need to capitalise on the investment of international interest and make sure Victoria remains competitive in its tourism offerings and supporting businesses.

In its 2012-13 pre-Budget submission to the Victorian Government, VECCI highlights several key projects which it says should be the focus of the government to stimulate international interest and investment in the state.

We need strategic new investment to support Victoria’s regions, and tourism and events industries, including the implementation of natural icon infrastructure projects with a focus on such attractions as the Grampians Peak Trail, the Great Ocean Road Interpretive Centre and Wilsons Prom Iconic Walk.

A strong focus needs to be on supporting Melbourne Airport to be Australia’s premier airport, flanked by Avalon in the west and an airport in the south east. International status should also be granted to Avalon Airport in order to further direct tourism into our regional areas.

This regional tourism and transport focus is vital. Our regions are important contributors to high yield tourism services and the attraction of overseas visitors, especially in the food and wine, spa and wellness and nature-based tourism and event areas.

Opportunities should be explored to enable Victoria’s regional airports to take greater traffic to boost tourism and business traveller throughput into the regions and capitalise on a number of major events that occur nationally and locally.

And in Melbourne, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre extension would position the city as the nation’s premier event host to our international business visitors.

VECCI’s 2012-13 pre-Budget submission summary is available here.

VECCI has welcomed news that up to 400 contractor jobs, and many more permanent jobs, will be created at the Melbourne Airport according to a draft plan for the Southern Precinct project which outlines significant benefits for the Victorian economy.

This project outlines a significant economic and employment investment for Melbourne and we welcome the employment, services and tourism benefits it will offer.

Up to 400 jobs will be created through the 16 month construction phase alone, and many more additional jobs will be created both at the airport, and through organisations servicing the airport on an ongoing basis.

The project will also deliver significant tourism benefits through increased airline facilitation that will further broaden the range of airline services Melbourne can provide, and also through increased airfare competition.

This project will place Melbourne in good stead as the premier gateway to Victoria and broader Australia, and will help to ensure Victoria stays competitive as a tourist destination.

We are delighted the draft report has progressed to the consultation phase and we will encourage the Commonwealth Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to further consider the proposal.

As Melbourne again prepares for the annual Formula One Australian Grand Prix event this weekend, I call on the State Government and the local community alike to take notice of the immense success this single event brings our state in terms of employment, tourism and services investment and ask, if this key event is to be wiped from our events calendar, how will the rest of Victoria’s key tourism events survive?

Why should the loss of one event affect the whole of the state in so many ways? Because, as Jeff Kennett aptly pieced together last year when the debate about the value of our Grand Prix reared its head once more, our events industry is like a train on a bridge and every pillar that the track runs along is central to its ongoing welfare and ability to keep all our other events and the supporting businesses moving along in a successful fashion.

Major Victorian events galvanise business interests from a range of industries on a cyclic basis. If we are to devalue this lone event to a state where we no longer want it, or worse, to a state where Formula One simply takes it away, the catastrophic effect for Victoria will be far-reaching.

The Victorian Government commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct a study on the economic impact of the Grand Prix following the 2011 event. The study estimated that the 2011 event increased Victoria’s Gross State Product (GSP) by between $32.04 million and $39.34 million.

The Grand Prix also provides significant branding and positioning for Melbourne and Victoria both nationally and internationally. The 2009 event alone provided a media or advertising equivalent value of $35.6 million to the State.

That’s a significant combined total income benefit for Victoria alone, and that’s profit that goes into benefitting our state in a range of other means that just can’t happen without this funding.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation estimated total attendance for the 2011 Grand Prix was 298,187. Almost 40,000 were from interstate (26,699) or overseas (11,740). Eighty-nine per cent of interstate spectators and 73 per cent of international spectators had travelled to Victoria specifically for the Grand Prix, or extended their stay because of it.

The strong attendance at this single event demonstrates a significant interest and also acknowledges Melbourne’s skill at providing a successful event year on year. To place a dollar figure on the outcome of this peak of tourist numbers, and the promotion of Victoria internationally as a result, is impossible to configure and the effects of it not happening on an annual basis difficult to imagine for businesses throughout the state.

The Grand Prix is a pillar in our overall events calendar, which includes the Australian Open, Spring Racing Carnival and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival amongst many, many more great events, the whole of which is greater than the sum of the parts.

Victoria’s major events deliver a combined economic impact to the State of approximately $1.4 billion annually and attract over 230,000 international visitors every year.

Collectively, these events work together to promote Melbourne and Victoria to the world and drive significant economic, social and cultural benefits to the State.

It’s not just about the direct income generation of the event; it’s also about our home-grown businesses reaping the benefits. The flow-on effect from events creates significant local business, employment and tourism benefits which are fundamental to our ongoing existence.

From the venues, to the caterers, to the transport systems, to the hotel accommodation and restaurants – the cyclic nature of our events calendar provides ongoing revenue for a range of tourism and services businesses.

For example, the 2011 Grand Prix event alone generated between 351 and 411 full-time equivalent jobs, and many others were involved in support services with more than 550 supplier companies also contributing to the event.

This core group of employee and service teams move from event to event to effectively make the events ‘happen’ throughout the year. Without this group, the events simply can’t happen, and without the events, these staff will be without jobs.

Victorians and Australians generally, should be not only proud that we were chosen to host this internationally renowned event, but we should be proud of the reputation that we have built to stand us in good stead as a recognised international sporting event host more broadly. This year is even more special in that Melbourne hosts the season opening event for the 2012 series. This means we are the first in the world to host a Grand Prix event in 2012. That’s just like sitting in pole position on the race track. What a prestigious and internationally enviable position to be in.

No other location throughout Australia can stage a mix of international and local sporting events at world-class venues which are in walking distance of the central city precinct, other tourist attractions and a range of first-rate hotels, restaurants and shopping outlets.

This story is not a new one, but one that is timely and needs to be reinforced in the light of what is set to be another successful Grand Prix event. I ask the government and the local community again to consider the bigger picture of the value of this lone event, and just how Victorian businesses who depend on the event’s success can continue to prosper without it.

More than 80 tourism and events operators from around Victoria last week offered their input into proposals to be issued to government on the paperless ticket system designed to cater for Melbourne’s more than 20 million annual domestic and international visitors, including international students and business travellers.

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), Victoria’s peak tourism industry body, held the event to offer operators the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the Transport Ticketing Authority (TTA) who will prepare a brief for consideration by government on the further roll out of the myki ticketing system.

Chinese visitation to Victoria is expected to increase rapidly in the years ahead, and tourism operators are being encouraged to start thinking about what this trend means for the industry’s supply side.

Valuable insights have been offered at recent industry events into how best to accommodate the expected surge in Chinese visitors, so Victoria can fully benefit from the increased prosperity of the Chinese middle class and their interest in travel.

Stories that create connections

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, shared his insights into what Chinese visitors to Melbourne may seek and value. One of these factors was a multiplicity of experiences, with visitors seeking both a sophisticated urban experience that includes dining and high-end retail, and some regional experiences.

‘A touch of familiarity’ was a notion that particularly struck a chord. Even when we travel specifically to see new and different places, it is human nature to seek what is familiar to us, if only to compare and contrast with what we know. For Chinese visitors, that ‘touch of familiarity’ would likely include a visit to Melbourne’s Chinatown, whether for food, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese history or cultural heritage in an Australian context.

Another notion that resonated was the need ‘to engage in the narrative that will help us connect with the Chinese market’. Victoria is blessed with rich Chinese cultural heritage thanks to decades of Chinese migration and visitation, which gives us many narratives to weave into tourism experiences through which we can connect with new Chinese travellers.

VTIC (Victoria Tourism Industry Council) is currently working a proposal to develop a Chinese Heritage Festival that involves a range of stakeholders and aims to integrate a cultural experience that attracts visitors and local communities alike, as well as showcasing our strong historical and cultural ties with China.

‘Same, but different’

Analysing and segmenting the ‘China market’ is complex due to the number of ethnic groups and languages spoken in the country, and requires a highly nuanced approach and keen understanding of the demographics.

A crucial starting point is language. Mandarin and Cantonese are the most well-known and widely spoken Chinese languages among many more dialects. Providing multi-lingual collateral is a good first step in engaging with Chinese-speaking visitors, but this must be done professionally and accurately.

In addition to this, educating customer-facing staff about Chinese culture and equipping them with some simple Mandarin phrases is a worthwhile investment that will demonstrate respect, interest and a willingness to engage on the visitors’ terms.  Tourism Victoria already has Chinese language versions of its website, and more attractions and tourism operators are including Chinese language in their marketing and interpretation collateral.

What about the rest of Asia?

Despite huge growth numbers over the past few years, Australia is actually attracting less than one per cent of China’s outbound market, and it’s essential the Victorian tourism industry continues to nurture and service our other Asian source markets.

The number of estimated international overnight visitors to Victoria from Korea, India and Singapore has risen sharply, and visitation from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand has also shown modest increases. As we prepare for greater visitation from China, we must also service and grow these other Asian markets. Their importance will be further emphasised if traditional markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States continue to be adversely affected by the economic situations both at home and in Europe.

With the dramatic shift in international visitor growth from the West to the East, it’s vital Victoria’s tourism industry operators take considered steps to welcome, enliven and inspire these diverse markets. Doing so will ensure positive and memorable visitor experiences that will extend our prosperity as a destination.

What are you and your business doing to cater for the expected increase in tourists from China? What initiatives do you think will be helpful?

VECCI is disappointed with an independent panel’s decision to abandon important tourism projects planned for the Great Ocean Road. These projects would have created jobs and been a positive development for the local tourism industry.

While the panel endorsed the majority of projects, the decision to abandon four coastal projects was a step backwards.

The Corangamite Shire’s original study into tourism opportunities along the Great Ocean Road and the subsequent planning scheme amendment is a sensible and strategic approach by a council seeking to increase the social and economic dividends from tourism in its region.

About 2.6 million people visit the region each year and its iconic natural attractions, such as the Twelve Apostles, but only 18 per cent of these visitors stay overnight in the region.

The study’s recommendations would allow appropriate, sensitive and sustainable tourism development along the coast, which in turn would create jobs, create local economic benefits, improve the welfare of Victorian regional towns and help tell stories to engage visitors.

The abandoned projects would have all been situated on private land. They would not encroach on public land.

The panel’s decision makes Victoria less competitive and less likely to attract potential high-quality investment. Key tourism regions such as the Great Ocean Road ought to seize important tourism opportunities and attract investment, matched to market demand.

We urge the State Government, in particular the Planning Minister, to review the panel’s decision to abandon these coastal projects.

Dianne Smith is the Chief Executive of the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC).