Released 25/07/2017
Opportunities to attract Chinese travellers to Canberra via Singapore were on the agenda during my visit to Shanghai.
The meetings included senior representatives from Singapore Airlines (North Asia and China) as well as Tourism Australia’s representative for the entire North Asia region.
We discussed opportunities to grow Canberra’s inbound tourism market from China through Singapore Airlines’ direct flights to the capital, which start in September. More tourists mean more jobs for Canberrans, which is one of the many ways direct flights will boost our economy.
During my visit to Shanghai, I also attended events as part of Australia Week in China and joined University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Parker at a meeting with East China University of Technology.
China is the fastest growing inbound tourism market for both Australia and Canberra.
Latest International Visitor Survey Statistics provided by Tourism Research Australia show the number one source of international visitors to Canberra come from China (16.5 per cent market share) representing 32,176 of the record 195,118 international visitors for the year ending December 2015.
Direct flights between Singapore and Canberra will be a game changer, opening up significant new trade, investment, education and tourism opportunities, not only from Singapore, but from China and Asia using Singapore as the hub.
Discussions focussed on key city and province connections with a view to developing market strategies with international flights to Canberra commencing in September this year. There are opportunities to grow visitor numbers from China, Hong Kong and South Korea by working strategically with partners such as Singapore Airlines and Tourism Australia.
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Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases