The Victoria Tourism Industry Council welcomes the latest results of Australia's tourism investment pipeline for 2017/18. At a national level, there were 213 projects in the pipeline with a combined value of $44 billion. Overall, the research revealed that tourism continues to provide a strong foundation for the Australian economy and consistently high demand is creating a need for more tourism infrastructure.
Victoria's value of the tourism infrastructure pipeline is $11 billion comprising 45 projects, which represents a 25% share nationally, the second highest share across the country. Victoria is ahead of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland but behind New South Wales, which has a value of 15%. This is a significant jump from this time last year during which Victoria was the 4th ranked State.
Aviation infrastructure represents 68% of Victoria's current pipeline with major projects including the proposed Koo Wee Rup Airport and construction of Melbourne Airport's third runway. Accommodation represents 22% of the pipeline and arts, recreation and business services represent 10%.
Victoria Tourism Industry Council Chief Executive Felicia Mariani said, "We are delighted to see that Victoria has made significant improvements from this time last year in its tourism infrastructure pipeline and now represents a quarter of the country's overall share. VTIC has long advocated for major infrastructure development to meet the growing demands of both domestic and international visitors.
A third runway at Melbourne Airport will be a game-changer for our industry and combined with our Airport's enviable curfew-free status, we will be able to attract even more direct flights from all corners of the world. This will truly help us position Melbourne as Australia's gateway destination.
Our year-on-year growth in visitors from around the world has created a need for more accommodation and Victoria currently has 35 projects in the wings with a total value of $2.4 billion. We will have capacity to add almost 7000 additional rooms to the State which will mean even more direct and indirect jobs for the industry and serious value to Victoria's overall economy.
These results demonstrate that Tourism is indeed Victoria's Business and ongoing investment into Melbourne's landmark precincts, our world-class natural assets and transport connectivity will deliver many benefits for all Victorian businesses," she said.
