The Territory Labor Government has ramped up its investment in our critical tourism industry with a record $103 million turbocharging tourism stimulus package to attract more visitors, create local jobs and put more money into the pockets of Territorians.
In recent years workers on major projects, have displaced tourists in the Top End, taking up seats on planes and filling our hotel rooms. We are working hard to lure more tourists and business travellers here, inject money into the economy and counter the effects from the wind down of the Ichthys construction phase.
Minister for Tourism and Culture, Lauren Moss said there were more cooperative marketing campaigns underway and planned than ever before, as part of the Turbocharging Tourism package.
Recent successes include:
- On the back of the Royal visit to the Top End in July, the NT featured in two episodes of MasterChef on Network 10 reaching 1.658 million viewers. One episode focused on Darwin and Stokes Hill Wharf and the other in Katherine, highlighting Nitmiluk Gorge and Cicada Lodge. The coinciding Jetstar MasterChef campaign was a great success with 1557 passengers booked and a return on investment of $1:$74.
- The Fly Free campaign aimed at encouraging American travellers to book the Northern Territory as part of their Australian holiday to receive a free flight has already generated public relations value in excess of $13 million.
- The Outback Payback incentive aimed at encouraging American travel agents to book their clients in for extra nights in the NT generated an extra $800,000 in overnight visitor expenditure.
Other Turbocharging Tourism wins include:
- Direct Donghai Airlines service bringing more Chinese visitors here
- Increased air access to the Red Centre with new Virgin Australia flights from Brisbane to Alice Springs and new Jetstar service from Brisbane to Uluru
- Japanese charter flights into Alice Springs for the first time in a decade expected to provide a $2 million boost to the local economy.
An additional $20.78 million is going into enhancing our existing festivals, events and other tourism experiences, to cement the Territorys reputation as a vibrant and exciting place to live, work and visit. Wins include:
- Best-ever Darwin Festival with 44 000 tickets sold
- Parrtjima attendance up by 35% to 20 000 people
- Business events bid fund has seen $802 000 invested in 17 events bringing an additional 5,550 business delegates, the majority visiting in 2019
- Darwin hosting 2018 Australian Tourism Export Council Meeting Place next month with a record 370 tourism industry leaders coming who are expected to spend $1 million locally.
As stated by Minister for Tourism and Culture, Lauren Moss
Tourism is a cornerstone of the Northern Territory economy, supporting thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, 16 300 plus direct and indirect jobs some 12 per cent of the total Northern Territory employment and contributes 9% to our Gross State Product.
The Territory Labor Government is investing in our vital tourism industry through our record $103 million turbocharging tourism stimulus. I expect to see visitation figures improve once the current turbocharged activities and marketing initiatives convert to on-ground visitation.
The flow-on economic benefits of turbocharging tourism ripple through many of our key industry sectors - retail, hospitality, transport, construction to name a few.
More visitors to the Northern Territory means more jobs and more profit for local businesses - and that means more money in Territorians pockets.
