Australia - Tourism

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The Australian state of Victoria is outperforming the rest of the country in tourism growth.

Figures released today (11 December 2008) show Victoria's share of international visitors to Australia is at its highest level in 15 years. The Victorian government says the numbers have increased 1.2 percent year-on-year for the 12 months to September.

Tourism spending is up an impressive 10 per cent in the same period.

They are creditable figures, and the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Tim Holding, was quick to score a political point or two.

"(It’s) not only good for Victoria, but when we compare to the rest of Australia, we've really been outperforming the national average, and more importantly, beating some of our interstate rivals," he gloated.

And then he added that Victorian tourism is “continuing to grow, despite the global economic gloom”.

This is doubtful, and we may have moved from political mileage to political spin.

The only quoted figures are for the year to the end of September. There was no “economic gloom” for 50 of those 52 weeks.

If Mr Holding can show that Victorian tourism has continued to grow since 15 September, the day that Lehman Bros went bang and the economic crisis entered our lives, then we will owe him an apology. But had he been able to show that, one suspects he would have.

Just as one suspects that this time next year Mr Holding will not have buoyant figures to crow about.

www.abc.net.au

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia, Politics, Tourism

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Melbourne's tourism spin

August 28th 2008 23:51

View from the top of the London Eye (Picture: Chris Champion)

In 2002, when it was announced, Melbourne's proposed giant sky wheel was an exciting prospect. Located in the middle of town, it would rival the London Eye and be an instant icon. This, promised the pollies and the promoters, would be the wheel deal.

At the time the Sydney Morning Herald, showing the condescension it reserves for stories involving Melbourne, reported, that " the southern capital will have something that will be hard to miss - a giant slow-moving ferris wheel on the banks of the Yarra River".

Not everyone was in favour. The Victorian Opposition Leader at the time, Dennis Napthine, said he thought it would be "an embarrassment". "The Melbourne Eye is a pale imitation of the London Eye and will turn out to be a Melbourne eyesore."

The striking words here are "pale imitation". How right he was.

When the Melbourne project was announced, comparisons with the London Eye were inevitable. They were also useful - the London landmark may be a century or two younger than most of the city's tourist attractions, but it is enormously popular, a feel-good factor which anybody with a finger in the Melbourne Eye pie would be foolish not to exploit.

And it was easy to be swept along on the tide of enthusiasm back then, when the project had the advantage of being long on marketing rhetoric and short on details.

What we didn't know at the time was that the big wheel would never be built on the banks of the Yarra, with close-up views of the city. It would instead be built in a paddock off Footscray Road, with a close-up view of a container terminal.

Worse, Melbourne's very own giant wheel is more of a wannabe giant. And it is this more than anything which reduces all the hype to hyperbole.

The tallest ferris wheel in the world at present is in Singapore. It opened in February 2008, and stands 165 metres tall. It took over from the 160-metre wheel in Nachang, China, which opened in 2006 to take the world's tallest title from the 135-metre London Eye.

But they will all be relegated to the little leagues next year when two 185-metre giants are built in Dubai and Berlin and, standing above them all, a 208-metre colossus is opened in Beijing.

Melbourne's new wheel will open later this year. It will reach 120 metres into the skies over a particularly unlovely stretch of inner western Melbourne industrial land. It will be the world's - oh, let's just say it is in the Top 10. For now.

They have built it. But who will come?

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Australia/NZ/Pacific, Australia, Tourism

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