Football fever, rocking event news, nature-based grants open & more…
Eyes from across the state, country and the world have been on South Australia over the past week, thanks to some exciting World Cup football matches, a rocking event announcement revealing the line up for Harvest Rock II, and flight incentives targeting key interstate markets to commit to a trip.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ continues to kick goals, with Adelaide scoring the tournament’s biggest television audience at the conclusion of the pool matches. The China v England match reached 53.9 million viewers – making it a tournament record-high that almost quadrupled the next most watched match at the halfway mark, and particularly important given these countries represent two of our largest tourism markets.
Last night, a crowd converged at the FIFA Fan Festival™ in Festival Plaza to see the Matildas defeat Denmark, sending our national team into the quarter finals. This added to the around 50,000 passionate fans who have enjoyed the football hub, while tens of thousands more have attended matches at Hindmarsh Stadium. With a full house set for tonight’s France v Morocco Round of 16 knockout, it is expected to bring total attendance over the five matches hosted in Adelaide/Tarntanya to more than 65,000.
Staying with event news, we welcomed the line up for Harvest Rock II which includes one-off Australian shows by global music icons, and we celebrated the wrap up of Illuminate Adelaide for 2023 with this year’s city program attracting a record 1.3 million attendances.
Illuminate Adelaide is continuing to shine a light this winter, as it switched on River Lights over the weekend. The activation at Mannum is an important initiative to help drive visitation to the flood-affected river community, and it’s been terrific to hear local operators are embracing the 10-day event.
Operators looking to grow their nature-based tourism offerings can now apply for a grant as part of our Experience Nature Tourism Fund 2023-24. This is the second round of the Fund, which has already supported 18 projects across the state with the aim to make SA more competitive in attracting domestic and international tourism.
Another way we attract our state’s key markets is through trade partnerships, such as our recent ‘Uncover South Australia Sale’ campaign with Qantas. Offering discounted one-way fares into and across our state, the campaign aimed to entice travellers from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to book a trip “right now”.
Finally, I'd like to congratulate SATC Board Director Ian Horne, as he joins fellow South Australian Jeff Ellison AM on the Tourism Australia board. I have no doubt Ian with his wealth of experience will make a wonderful contribution at the national level.
Read on for further updates below.
Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer