Record-breaking results, nature tourism fund opens soon, river recovery wins & more...
The record-breaking results keep coming for South Australia, as latest National Visitor Survey data shows April was the best month ever for visitor spend. At $954 million, the new all-time high was driven by strong interstate and domestic day trip spend, boosted by the inaugural AFL Gather Round and LIV Golf Adelaide.
These impressive results were backed by STR data which showed Adelaide had the second highest accommodation occupancy in April out of 14 major cities across Australia and New Zealand. At an average of 70 per cent for the month, we were pipped only by Perth.
Announced today, applications for the next round of our Experience Nature Tourism Fund will open at the end of the month, supporting the development of new and improved nature-based tourism offerings across our state.
I encourage interested operators to consider an application to the Fund, which saw 18 products and experiences supported across our state in round one – with nearly $486,000 in grants unlocking more than $824,000 in total project value.
Our state’s Murray River regions are benefiting from the important economic impact of the first round of our River Revival Vouchers. An estimated $3.1 million was injected into the two regions in the first round, a wonderful indicator of the program’s contribution to tourism recovery.
Further enticing visitors to visit our flood-affected communities, Illuminate Adelaide will bring immersive installations and light displays to Mannum next month. The SATC is proud to support River Lights which will shine a light on the Murray River town from 4 to 13 August.
As the SATC continues work to recover international tourism, it was a great pleasure to have our new SATC Regional Manager South East Asia, Suzanne Lim in Adelaide last week. Suzanne is based in our Singapore office and joins the SATC with a strong tourism background, having worked previously for the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Tourism Western Australia. Her commencement is a great step forward as we continue to recover our state’s high value Asian market.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate Ian Horne on his incredible 33 years at the Australian Hotels Association. Ian finished up in his role as CEO of AHA last week, and we are extremely grateful to continue to have his wisdom imparted as a member of our Board.
Read on for other updates.
Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer