Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum FRIDAY 5 MAY 2023

Tara Cheyne MLA, ACT Minister for Business

• I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, and the land we meet on today, this was and always will be Aboriginal Land
• Thank you for the warm invitation to speak and to everyone for your time being here. The last time I spoke here was February 2021.
• I want to outline some work underway to grow the ACT arts sector, and what the ACT government is doing
• Canberra has the highest creative population per head in Australia, we can do a better job of telling ourstory

"Hidden gems has been something we have said for too long - there will be no more hidden gems"

• Hidden gems is not a strategy and we are never going to grow our sector if we hold on to that.
• We want people to know about what we've got, be attracted to it, and find it when they are here.
• As well as being home to all our national institutions, we have many local arts businesses.

• We are upgrading the Belconnen and Tuggeranong Arts Centres
• Workshops to encourage organisations to enhance their own visibility
• Dance week kicked off at the Arboretum last week
• Uncharted Territory - showcasing what is special about the ACT this July

"An arts capital cannot be achieved without a successful night time economy - they go hand in hand"

• Soon we will begin consultation on a night time economy vision, including improving liquor regulation, streamlining licences, and applications, and making it easier to get involved.
• We are establishing entertainment precincts across the city and the first will be in the city centre
• We have identified two work streams, 1) policy and legislation, 2) business experience and regulator practice
• These streams are being worked on in parallel
• Creating practical and easy to find information on ACT government rules and regulations, making things easier and less expensive for business.

For example:

• Removing outdated payment methods, like cheques (laughter)
• We have launched a dedicated Access Canberra number for small businesses, 6205 4400. You can speak to a case officer about navigating the ACT's processes.
• We have been mapping the end to end user experience of businesses, to inform change. This includes measuring the quantity and quality of interactions with Government.
• Improving our 'business hub' website
• We are looking to develop a business secondment program

Closing remarks:

• I hope this demonstrates we have great ambition, and that it is more than just words and intent, we are demonstrating we know what needs to happen
• By working together there is so much to gain for our city and our future, I look forward to working together, with you

John Hart OAM, Executive Chair of Australian Chamber

• Absolute pleasure to be here, can I add my recognition to the traditional owners.
• Let's work our way through an analysis of the Australian tourism economy. We are starting to make our way out of a horrible couple of years.
• We are looking at strong recovery of demand for tourism, particularly from China.

• We are seeing some great prospect for a speedy recovery from these markets, in particular the Chinese market and New Zealand markets

"Clearly in the ACT we have a situation where we haven't recovered internationally as much as we would like, but the domestic recovery is strong."

• However, if we kept the domestic recovery where it was, and brought the international market, we wouldn't fit everybody, so we need to see the domestic calm slightly and build up the international

• At the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE23) Canberra punched above it's weight in how it represented
• It's great to see we have capacity returning to Canberra Airport
• So I think we're on track

• According to the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021, Australia is rated 7th.
• Japan was number 1 - our major competitor in the market

"As you get into the data you see that from a price point of view, we are not competitive and we need to be"

• For example, we are 112 out of 117 for price competitiveness
• We are number 1 in terms of our natural assets

Our natural assets are pushing us right up to the top of the list - but we are not looking after them

We have three work streams to do something about all this

1. Ongoing advocacy in priority areas
2. Future traveller working group
3. Tourism industry advisory

• The ABS says we will have 397,000 vacancies this year, that is over a third of our workforce vacant
• We have to focus on student working hours, WHM (working holiday maker) policy, skilled migration, skills policy, visa settings (what we are hearing says this fee is holding people back from visiting), Tourism Australia funding, industry engagement and representation, and insurance
• It is extraordinary that we have commitments to net zero, but the tourism industry has none, we need to start planning that
• We have a bit of an issue around infrastructure getting around this country - noticeable to anyone that has got on and off planes or cruise liners in the last 12 months

"If we want to get our 'hockey stick' right - we have to pay attention to these numbers"

Sally Barnes, CEO National Capital Authority

Can I just say how fantastic it is to hear about the recognition of our natural assets, and how sad it is that we aren't putting effort in to make them sustainable. Thank you John for your work.

I'd like to speak on 'Why the NCA? Why here? Why now?'

• The whole story started the 1st January 1901 with the Australian Constitution, and the need for a seperate Australian capital city.
• Charles Scrivener and King O'Malley were part of the driving force - and it must have been a good sunny day [when they picked Canberra] (laughter), but maybe they wanted it to be fresh - a bit of a chill to help the politicians think clearly (laughter)
• When they had a plan for the city, they handed the management over to the bureaucrats
• There was no consultation - they went and did things and did them quickly
• Bob Hawke gave the people of the ACT a vote for independence, the people said no, and he offered another vote and they said no again - and then he did it anyway

There's two artefacts that drive how the ACT is run:

• National Capital Plan - ensures Canberra is planned and developed. It is quite detailed about what can and can't be done.
• The Territory Plan meshes with that and ensures the Canberra community has a great place to live and work

• This is what I call the areas that you mow (laughter)

This is what the NCA have been doing in 'the mowing areas':

• Revamp Regatta Point, revive the paddle boats, new steps at the NGA, Christmas in July, Van Gogh Alive, Saturday markets in the summer around the lake, lights on the lake for Australia Day, 'tough nutters' inflatable playground for kids, revamped our website, aqua park, we have worked on making cycling safer - these are the new things

For areas around the lake where we don't own, we are working with ACT government on how to improve those areas:

• Commonwealth Bridge renewal, with make the foot path wider and make it safer
• A niche flight between Sydney Opera House and Parliament House - it's about a new vibe and new product
• We are re-imagining Commonwealth Park - how do we make it more fun?
• Stage 88: Bringing back rock concerts to the area