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Ladies and gentlemen,
It's a pleasure to be in Adelaide to address the Winemakers' Federation of Australia.
And where better to be talking about wine than here at the National Wine Centre.
I was pleased to read a recent media report stating this year's vintage is one of the best for some varieties in some areas. After battling heatwaves, bushfires and drought, no doubt many winemakers will be pleased and busy!
Australian wine is enjoyed around the world but a true Australian wine experience can only be had at one of our 1614 cellar doors.
Cellar doors are a beneficial tourism product.
While they attract more than two million domestic visitors a year, the 684,000 international winery visitors spend more per person on average than other international visitors.
And they expect more.
Tourism Research Australia's data states they expect a wine AND food experience, they want to relax and rejuvenate, tour around and explore, learn something new and they seek luxury and indulgence.
While it's not always easy to keep the customer satisfied the 28,000 people employed in Australia's wine industry depend on sales and satisfied customers.
Today's TQUAL Grant is about tourism and wine working even harder for each other to increase sales and improve quality.
TQUAL Grants
I congratulate the Winemakers' Federation of Australia for your successful TQUAL bid.
Just over $226,000 will go towards updating and implementing the existing National Wine Tourism Strategy.
This project will:
- improve cellar door wine tasting experiences to include wine education and local foods;
- conduct research into market trends for the update of the National Wine Tourism Strategy; and
- deliver a national workshop program with online materials to improve customer service at the cellar door.
This project builds and implements Tourism Research Australia research into Food and Wine and it makes an investment in the industries most important asset- people.
It is one of seventy TQUAL Grants sharing in almost $8.3 million in Australian Government tourism funding.
TQUAL Grants put a premium on innovation, and the results of this project will make Australian wineries an even bigger magnet for tourism.
Tourism helps drive local economies.
In fact tourism provides jobs for almost half a million Australians and contributes almost 4 per cent to GDP.
Tourism Strategy
That is why, in December last year I launched the Australian Government's National Long Term Tourism Strategy to ensure the industry is positioned for a strong and sustainable future.
The wine and tourism industries require a flexible, mobile, skilled, talented and productive labour force to deliver quality products and services for visitors.
We also need reinvestment in existing products and investment in new accommodation. We need to embrace indigenous employment and business opportunities and focus on quality through accreditation.
These are the sorts of issues the Strategy is tackling.
Next month, the Tourism Ministers' will meet in Canberra to discuss progress and results on the issues affecting the industry.
Tourism promotion
Alongside the Strategy, governments at all levels continue to invest in promoting tourism.
Yesterday I launched the new Tourism Australian “There's Nothing Like Australia” global marketing campaign.
The campaign capitalises on the appeal of the Australian character by encouraging all Australians to get involved in promoting Australia to the world.
Visitors to wineries, for example, can get directly involved in the campaign by uploading personalised images and stories online about their favourite Australian cellar door experience.
The Australian Government will spend $150 million over three years to stimulate private sector investment in the campaign.
The Australian Government and Tourism Australia will continue its commitment to the 'No Leave, No Life' domestic campaign.
The aim is to separate hard-working Australians from their 123 million days of accrued leave worth $33 billion and encourage them to take a break here in Australia.
Through magazines, newspaper supplements and a TV show, tourism operators benefit from this campaign with workers taking their entitlements and seeing more of Australia.
The wine and tourism industries have also benefited from broader support by Government through the additional $50 million in Export Market Development Grants and the $500 million in support for small business through the economic stimulus package measures.
This suite of measures have assisted the industry to weather the Global Financial Crisis far better than our competitors.
Market conditions
Tourism was a tough row to hoe in 2009.
But business conditions show signs of improvement, both in terms of overseas visitors and the domestic market.
Despite the global economy contracting for the first time in half a century, international visitor arrivals to Australia held steady in 2009.
Growth was strongest in the December quarter, when visitor numbers increased five per cent compared with the same quarter in 2008.
Domestic visitor nights for the December quarter were unchanged year-on-year and expenditure was up.
While overnight trips for the December quarter were down, the decline was less than for the previous three quarters.
I'm confident these numbers will improve during 2010, and that the package of measures I talked about earlier will help the tourism industry get the most from the upturn.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen, Winemakers and cellar doors are as vital as hoteliers, tour guides, pilots and all those whose livelihood relies on tourism.
Thanks to TQUAL Grants and other initiatives, winemakers will go on strengthening the connection between the cellar door and the tourist dollar.
Higher numbers of visitors are on the way.
Their expectations will be higher too.
So the Australian Government is helping the tourism industry get into the best possible shape to welcome them.
Thank you