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Cultural Tourism

growth of tourism in australia

Over the last decade, tourism has emerged as one of Australia's most significant growth industries. Since the early 1980s, thenumber of overseas tourists to Australia each year has more than tripled to 3 million and export earnings have grown from $1.9billion to $10.7 billion. Domestic tourism is forecast to grow at a steady rate of nearly 2 per cent each year.

A significant contribution to this growth is made by cultural tourism. The experiences generated by Australian performances,visual arts and our heritage are unique. Cultural tourism embraces the full range of experiences visitors can undertake to learnwhat makes a destination distinctive - its lifestyle, its heritage, its arts, its people - and the business of providing and interpretingthat culture to visitors.

Recent studies have shown that a significant and increasing proportion of both domestic and international visitors are looking forcultural experiences as a major component of their holidays. This was one of the key findings of the Study of Cultural Tourism inAustralia, commissioned by the Arts and Tourism portfolios (1991), and recognised by the Department of Tourism in theNational Tourism Strategy (1992), and the Cultural Tourism Project (1993).

The importance of cultural tourism in regional areas was highlighted by the Regional Development Task Force (1993), whichrecommended that the Arts and Tourism portfolios develop a National Cultural Tourism Strategy. This Report proposed that thetwo portfolios investigate mechanisms and programs to improve access to the arts and culture and to enhance the presentation andmarketing of cultural tourism products and activities.

The Government will further develop links between the Department of Tourism, the Australia Council and the Departmentfor Communications and the Arts to initiate programs to provide further opportunities for cultural tourism. The CulturalIndustry Development Program will allocate $250,000 annually to initiatives to develop cultural tourism including:

measures to enhance the business management skills of the cultural industries as they apply to cultural tourism, utilisingexisting business development programs;measures to improve access by the cultural industries to tourist markets, including the development of marketing anddistribution networks; andthe identification of new tourist markets for cultural products.

Through these initiatives, cultural bodies will be encouraged to consider their potential to attract tourists and to encourage regionswith cultural attractions to develop this aspect of their area and then successfully market their product.

australian tourism commission

The significance of the cultural tourism market has been recognised by the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) which hasnominated 1995 as a year of Celebration of Australian Art and Culture and 1996 as a year of Festivals.

As part of the promotional activity for the year, the ATC has produced:

a Directory of Events and Contacts which includes a calendar of cultural events and information on performing arts,festivals and heritage attractions;an information brochure which provides an overview of Australian arts and culture from a tourist's perspective; anda Guidebook containing information on topics such as visual arts, music and film.

international cultural tourism

International visitors to Australia are attracted by the distinctive features of Australian culture which cannot be duplicatedelsewhere in the world. Their interest in Australian culture is evident from the Survey of International Visitors to Australia andAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts, conducted in 1993. Sponsored by the Australia Council, it gives information on thecultural interests of international visitors:

Forty eight per cent of international tourists to Australia were interested in seeing and learning about Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander culture.Over a third of visitors to Australia undertook an activity related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture; forexample, visiting a gallery or museum, or taking a tour involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.The value of purchases of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and souvenirs by international visitors was estimated at$46 million a year in 1991, an increase from $30 million in 1990.

Tourists are a significant client group for the full spectrum of our cultural industry groups, from performing arts to craftspeopleand manufacturers.

domestic cultural tourism

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The Survey of Australian Domestic Tourists' Cultural Participation, conducted in 1990-91, showed that the focus of domestictourism was heritage sites, craft workshops and multicultural fairs and markets. The Government believes that improvedmarketing and product development in this area will increase the domestic cultural tourism sector by extending the length of visit,increasing daily expenditure during the holiday and encouraging Australians to holiday in their own country.

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