International tourists have a significantly higher interest in cultural experiences than domestic visitors, but targeting the latter offers better prospects for engagement in the sector.
That is according to the State of the Arts in Cairns (SoARTS) Report 2020, which was tabled at Council today and provides a detailed analysis of the local arts community during the 2020 calendar year.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts, cultural and creative sectors was detailed in the report, noting some enterprises pivoted successfully to online delivery of services, some grew membership and even developed new cash reserves.
However, COVID-safe requirements affected the viability of many events, performances and exhibitions – 69 Ticketlink events were postponed or cancelled from March to June 2020 and over 6,600 tickets were cancelled / refunded.
The Cairns arts and culture sector was allocated $426,408 from the Regional Arts Australia Recovery Boost funding in 2020, representing 36% of the funds allocated in Queensland.
The report identified that a low awareness of the leading role the sector plays in northern Australia represented an opportunity to broaden engagement and exposure to the region's arts and culture.
Data from airport surveys (taken before COVID-19 disrupted travel) indicated a higher level of interest in cultural experiences from international respondents (68.6%) than domestic visitors (39.5%).
However, domestic tourists stay longer and are more likely to be repeat visitors than international arrivals, and therefore should be the focus of specific campaigns to develop cultural tourism in the region.
The report noted that stakeholders acknowledged Council's continued investment in arts venues in the city, especially for high-end touring and tourist activities, although there was some concern about programming and venues for home-grown, grass-roots talents.
Among other key findings were concerns that tertiary institutions have progressively reduced physical infrastructure along with reduced course offerings available to creative arts students and the arts and cultural sector, and the development of film production infrastructure was noted as being an important developing discussion for the city.
