Site navigation

Section navigation

Main contents

Home

Edition 22

 Print

27 November 2008

America’s TODAY Show films at Philip Island

Philip Island’s natural attractions were recently showcased on America’s number one morning show, NBC’s TODAY Show.

An appearance on NBC’s TODAY Show is the gold standard of media coverage in the US reaching more than nine million people daily.

TODAY Show leading co-anchor Meredith Vieira visited various natural attractions at Philip Island including the Penguin Parade and the Philip Island Koala Conservation Centre.

The island’s fury friends featured as part of the Ends of the Earth series which focuses on environmental issues.

To watch the footage from NBC’s TODAY Show visit msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27765697#27765697

Sell out crowd for Tourism Awards

Victoria’s leading tourism businesses and individuals were acknowledged in front of a sell out crowd of 1,200 people at the Melbourne Airport 2008 Victorian Tourism Awards at the Palladium at Crown last week. 

More than 120 businesses and individuals competed for top honours in this year’s awards including many from regional Victoria. 

 

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Tim Holding congratulated all entrants and said they had done exceptionally well to be recognised among the state’s best. 

 

“The Awards, which have been running for more than two decades, are a reflection on the high standard of the Victorian tourism industry and cement our reputation as a world-class tourism destination,” said Mr Holding.

 

Along with collecting accolades winning businesses and individuals were showcased in a special Sunday Herald Sun lift out on 23 November and will be further promoted at the Melbourne Visitor Information Centre at Federation Square. 

 

Across the evening eight businesses were inducted into the Victorian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame for winning their category for three consecutive years. 

 

Winners of the Melbourne Airport 2008 Victorian Tourism Awards will represent Victoria at the 2009 Australian Tourism Awards which Victoria will host in February.  

 

For a full list of winners go to victoriantourismawards.com.au

 

Victorian tourism worth more than $15 billion

New research shows Victoria’s tourism industry is boosting Victoria’s economy by $15.1 billion a year and providing jobs for more than 179,000 people. 

Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said the research conducted by Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre showed the strength of the state’s tourism industry. 

 

“The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) 2006-07 results highlight the strength of Victoria’s tourism industry which continues to have significant impact on Victoria’s economy,” Mr Holding said.

 

“Compared with the 2003-04 TSA results, the combined direct and indirect economic impact of tourism has increased by 13.2 per cent, well above the national growth figure of 10.4 per cent.

 

“With a growth rate of 8.8 per cent, over the period 2003-04 to 2006-07, Victoria’s tourism employment is also above the national average of 7.6 per cent. 

 

“In 2006-07 the Victorian tourism industry directly accounted for 102,200 jobs, a 4 per cent share of employment within Victorian.  By incorporating the indirect employment impact of tourism, this figure rises to 179,200 jobs, 7 per cent of employment within the state.”

 

Melbourne welcomes AirAsia X’s inaugural flight

 

Victoria’s tourism industry has been boosted with AirAsia X’s recently commencing flights from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne. 

 

AirAsia X currently fly four Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne services per week and will increase to daily services from March 2009. 

 

AirAsia X will also operate daily services during the peak season from mid December to mid January. 

 

On arrival at Melbourne Airport to greet the Airbus A330 aircraft Tourism and Major Event Minister Tim Holding said AirAsia X’s new low-cost service into Melbourne shows confidence in Victoria as a tourism destination for both the leisure and business tourism markets. 

 

“ Victoria already enjoys a one-third market share of Malaysian visitors to Australia, the largest of any state, with 49,000 in the year ending June 2008,” Mr Holding said.

 

“We expect this to reach 82,000 visitors by 2017, and AirAsia X’s arrival means Victoria is even better placed now to cater to such traffic growth.

 

“AirAsia X’s arrival will also help build Victoria’s reputation as the number one Australian study destination for Malaysian students, with approximately 40 per cent now choosing to study here.”

 

AirAsia X is part of the AirAsia Group, which currently serves 60 destinations with more than 72 planes based in three countries and has carried 50 million passengers since 2002. 

 

 

Iconic surfing event secured until 2011 

 

Victoria has secured the world’s longest running professional surfing event, the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach for a further three years, including the 50th anniversary in 2011. 

 

Both the men’s and women’s professional surfing have been secured with the ASP Men’s World Tour and the ASP Women’s World Tour contests taking place over Easter at Bells Beach, Torquay. 

 

“The Rip Curl Pro is an outstanding example of an event that not only draws international attention to our regional coastal areas along the Great Ocean Road but also directly engages the local community and stimulates the regional tourism economy, which drives jobs and growth,” Premier John Brumby said.

 

“I am delighted that the Victorian Government will support the Rip Curl Pro for a further three years, delivering on our commitment to building on Victoria’s world-class major events and diverse tourism attractions to continue boosting the state’s holiday and leisure market.”

 

 

New national online program launched


A new voluntary national accreditation program designed to ensure domestic and international tourists direct their buying habits to operators who have passed the tick test has been launched. 

The web-based accreditation program, developed by the University of Ballarat’s Centre for eCommerce and Communications, is for all tourism businesses throughout Australia, regardless of size. 

 

The decision to create a national online program, designed to ease the process of a tourism business becoming accredited, was made last year after a two-year pilot in Victoria.

 

Today there are over 3,000 operators nationally who are accredited and entitled to use the Tourism Accredited Business symbol of a yellow tick in a star and green circle. 

 

That number is set to rise significantly as operators take advantage of the easier but more rigorous system which only requires necessary documents to be uploaded to the system, increasingly efficiency, speed and reliability. 

 

Gaining accreditation and using the tick gives businesses credibility in the market – something that advertising could never buy. 

 

To learn more about the accreditation and gaining your tick of approval visit http://program.atap.net.au/

  
International Update


Tourism Victoria will restructure its Japan operations in an environment of changing market dynamics and long-term international marketing priorities.

Tenders will be invited in Japan for a locally based representative company to undertake marketing and public relations programmes in the place of a full-fledged Tourism Victoria office.

Despite this change, Tourism Victoria will remain committed to the Japan market and to its partnerships with the airlines, trade and media. 

The appointed representative company will work on targeted marketing initiatives to promote the state's quality experiences and grow market share of the school excursion and high-yield leisure segments including 'Jukunen'.

Victoria had 58,345 Japanese visitors in year ending Mar 2008, making Japan the 7th largest source market for Victoria after New Zealand, UK, China, USA, Germany and Singapore.

Nationally, Japanese visitation to Australia decreased by 11.9% from 2006 to 2007, consistent with a declining trend since the mid-1990s. 

Tourism Victoria would like to acknowledge the significant contribution made by Mr Izumi Nagai, Regional Manager, Tourism Victoria over the last thirteen years.  

Izumi will be leaving the organisation at the end of this calendar year and takes with him the very best wishes of his many friends and colleagues in the tourism industry in Japan and Australia.

 
Last Updated ( Friday, 28 November 2008 )