Mr HIGGINS - 2013-05-16
Tourism plays a vital part in the Territory’s economy but was neglected by the former incompetent Treasurer who failed to take responsible action when the industry was facing numerous challenges. Can the minister outline what initiatives in Budget 2013-14 address this neglect and ensure our valuable tourism industry flourishes?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, tourism is such an exciting part of government to be involved in. While it is a great role in government, it is very difficult at the moment because of the enormous problems we have inherited in tourism. We have been left with an industry that has been haemorrhaging for the last 10 years, acutely over the last 5 years.
The government has demonstrated its commitment. We came to the election promising this would be one of the pillars of the Northern Territory economy, and we are determined to grow it. We have done that with an extra $8m in Budget 2013-14 towards tourism. We have made the responsible decisions that acknowledge the tourism industry’s importance in growing the economy and reducing government debt. That debt will grow, if we continue current spending, to $5.5bn.
There are a number of areas we will target, one being marketing. The bulk of this important extra money will be used to address serious declines in international visitation. It is a very important part of our tourism story which has been declining over the last 10 years, acutely over the last 5 years.
We have doubled international marketing. In fact, it has more than doubled; we have gone from $7m to $15m to address international marketing deficiencies in the Northern Territory’s tourism story.
As we know, the Northern Territory is the best product in the world, right up there with anything else you will see whether it be the Amazon or the pyramids. Wherever you are, the Northern Territory is right up there. It is as good, if not better.
The international market wants to know how to get here and what the Territory has to offer. We have marketing partnerships with airlines - aviation capacity into the Northern Territory is vital – and online travel agents and traditional trade partners around the world to boost bookings and drive that traffic to the Northern Territory.
We will be building on our traditional markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe. We have very strong partnerships with those three jurisdictions Of course, we will also be tapping into that sleeping giant, China. We are ensuring we get a slice of that huge, growing Chinese market.
Importantly as well, we are commencing a digital advertising campaign in each of these international markets. We cannot ignore the social media side of international marketing. The whole face of tourism has changed and the digital marketing campaign is critical to ensuring we get our fair share of international visitation. One area we are really focusing on is allowing us to work closely with tour operators across the Northern Territory to assist them with their individual digital marketing campaigns.
There is much to say on this, and I have a 40 minute budget reply speech coming up this afternoon which highlights some of the details of what we are doing in an area which was in decline for so long under the former Labor government.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, tourism is such an exciting part of government to be involved in. While it is a great role in government, it is very difficult at the moment because of the enormous problems we have inherited in tourism. We have been left with an industry that has been haemorrhaging for the last 10 years, acutely over the last 5 years.
The government has demonstrated its commitment. We came to the election promising this would be one of the pillars of the Northern Territory economy, and we are determined to grow it. We have done that with an extra $8m in Budget 2013-14 towards tourism. We have made the responsible decisions that acknowledge the tourism industry’s importance in growing the economy and reducing government debt. That debt will grow, if we continue current spending, to $5.5bn.
There are a number of areas we will target, one being marketing. The bulk of this important extra money will be used to address serious declines in international visitation. It is a very important part of our tourism story which has been declining over the last 10 years, acutely over the last 5 years.
We have doubled international marketing. In fact, it has more than doubled; we have gone from $7m to $15m to address international marketing deficiencies in the Northern Territory’s tourism story.
As we know, the Northern Territory is the best product in the world, right up there with anything else you will see whether it be the Amazon or the pyramids. Wherever you are, the Northern Territory is right up there. It is as good, if not better.
The international market wants to know how to get here and what the Territory has to offer. We have marketing partnerships with airlines - aviation capacity into the Northern Territory is vital – and online travel agents and traditional trade partners around the world to boost bookings and drive that traffic to the Northern Territory.
We will be building on our traditional markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe. We have very strong partnerships with those three jurisdictions Of course, we will also be tapping into that sleeping giant, China. We are ensuring we get a slice of that huge, growing Chinese market.
Importantly as well, we are commencing a digital advertising campaign in each of these international markets. We cannot ignore the social media side of international marketing. The whole face of tourism has changed and the digital marketing campaign is critical to ensuring we get our fair share of international visitation. One area we are really focusing on is allowing us to work closely with tour operators across the Northern Territory to assist them with their individual digital marketing campaigns.
There is much to say on this, and I have a 40 minute budget reply speech coming up this afternoon which highlights some of the details of what we are doing in an area which was in decline for so long under the former Labor government.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016