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Tourism Industry Welcomes Funding Commitment
Posted on Friday, 23 October 2009 | Permalink
The Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania says Premier David Bartlett’s commitment of an additional $4 million this financial year for marketing and events will go a long way to sustaining visitor numbers.
Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania Chief Executive Daniel Hanna said today the funding commitment demonstrated that the Premier understood the dynamics of the industry and its importance to the Tasmanian economy.
“The TICT has worked closely with Tourism Minister Michelle O’Byrne and the Premier over recent months to ensure they understood the indisputable link between investment in destination marketing now and the strength of the industry in one or two year’s time,” Mr Hanna said.
“The most recent Tasmanian Visitor Survey figures showing that Tasmania has done remarkably well compared to other Australian states over the past 12 months is due largely to past destination marketing efforts.
“The tourism industry is confident that this growth can continue into the future. This is because Tasmania has a very strong brand, a unique set of attractions and experiences, and a tourism product that keeps delivering high visitor satisfaction,” Mr Hanna said.
Mr Hanna said that the state tourism authority, Tourism Tasmania, had worked hard in recent years to become a highly efficient organisation.
“Tourism Tasmania, our state tourism organisation, has quietly gone about the job of becoming more efficient in the way it does business. In 2005-2006 nearly 50% of its budget was spent on staffing and overheads; but this year, they will spend just a third of their budget on staffing and overheads.
“At a time when all government agencies are under pressure to become more efficient and deliver greater bang for buck, Tourism Tasmania is now arguably the most efficient agency in government. This is why the industry has the confidence that an additional $4m in funding will deliver strong results.
In the 12 months to the end of June a total of 907,200 people visited Tasmania and spent more than $1.45 billion while they were here. Tasmania has also been found to be the most tourism intensive state in the nation, with a greater share of Gross State Product and employment in tourism than any other Australian state, including Queensland.
Mr Hanna said there were a number of reasons why Tasmania had fared better than other Australian destinations.
“One of the main reasons is that, despite recent budget cuts to tourism marketing funding, we are still benefiting from consistent and effective marketing over many years. We have also seen strong investment in marketing Tasmania by the TT-Line, airline and private tourism operators.
“This success against a national downturn underlines the importance of continuing to invest in destination marketing for the future, especially in Victoria and New South Wales which are far and away our biggest markets,” Mr Hanna said.
Mr Hanna said that in recent months, the industry had taken its concerns about a forecast 39 per cent decline in funding for tourism promotion to the Minister and Premier and they had listened.
“Our main concern was that by the next budget it may already be too late to head off a downturn in visitors and that therefore the Government needed to invest more in marketing in the current year,” he said.
Mr Hanna said that estimated decline in tourism funding in future years is still of great concern to the tourism industry.
“The additional funding that has been announced today is very welcome but will only resolve the issue in the short-term. There is still a need for longer term certainty of tourism funding and this will be an ongoing priority for the TICT in the coming months.
“Increased investment in tourism in the forward years we know, through research, will increase awareness of Tasmania as a destination and lead to increased visitors, wealth, and tourism jobs. Government investments in tourism marketing and attracting events also give the private sector the confidence and certainty that they need to continue to make major investments.
“The tourism industry has great faith in the capacity of Tourism Tasmania to stimulate demand for people to visit Tasmania. It has been demonstrated in recent years that investments by the Tasmanian Government in marketing through Tourism Tasmania will achieve a strong return for Tasmania,” he said.
