Industry Update: Restrictions ease for Easter, Regional Event Fund closing soon, hungry for Tasting Australia & more...
Easter this year is shaping up to be a great time for tourism, with today’s announcement that capacity limits on licensed venues will increase next week.
From Wednesday 31 March, licensed venues such as pubs, clubs and restaurants will lift to 75 per cent capacity – around 3 people per 4 square metres. This is great news for our hospitality industry and one I know will be most welcome, particularly ahead of the Easter long weekend.
Also announced following today’s Transition Committee, venues with fixed seating of up to 1000 capacity, such as theatres, will be able to trade at 100 per cent capacity with masks; and venues with a license for up to 1000 patrons will have the dancefloor requirements removed. More positive steps forward for SA and a stark difference to Easter 2020, when we had ‘stay at home’ orders in place. For details, see covid-19.sa.gov.au.
Today’s news follows a sensational festival season, and one that is no doubt the envy of many across the world during this time. You may have heard that the Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Fringe enjoyed target-busting sales – the Adelaide Festival sold $3.7 million in tickets which was $1 million over target, and the Fringe sold over 600,000 tickets with a total value of $16.4 million.
There’s more to come with ticket sales booming for Tasting Australia presented by RAA Travel – up by over 30 per cent compared to the same time last year. We’re seeing many of the festival’s events attracting a waitlist, so we’re offering additional session times to some events to fill this demand. A fantastic ‘problem’ to have and positive news for our visitor economy set to benefit from the boost this festival will bring.
With Easter next weekend and the traditional peak in tourism that brings, I’m hearing from operators that bookings are strong for the long weekend and there’s been an increasing number of interstate visitors.
A reminder to regional event organisers that applications for round one of our 2021/22 Regional Event Fund are closing soon, on 12 April. With an additional $1 million in grants available and an expansion of what’s able to be funded on previous years, I encourage all regional event organisers to consider an application to the Fund.
Read on for the latest news impacting our industry, as well as opportunities available for tourism businesses.
Kind regards,
Rodney Harrex
Chief Executive
Huge appetite for food festival
Festivalgoers are hungry for the return of Tasting Australia presented by RAA Travel, with ticket sales surging and more events being added to meet demand. Twice delayed in 2020, it’s a welcome return to the calendar and one that helps showcase SA’s world-class food and beverage sector. With more than 140 events across the state from 30 April to 9 May, this year’s festival has a strong focus on SA produce. At six weeks out from event, ticket sales are up over 30 per cent and Events South Australia executive director Hitaf Rasheed said demand’s been so strong “we’ve set up wait lists and we’re looking at how we can try and find the right events for those people”. More: tastingaustralia.com.au.
Regional Event Fund – get your applications in
Regional event organisers are reminded that applications for round one of the Regional Event Fund close at 5pm, Monday 12 April 2021. The Fund, allocated an additional $1 million in 2021, is designed to spur new and innovative regional events and grow existing regional events. There are four categories for the 2021-22 funding round, including (but not limited to) Established Event Funding with grants of $20,000 to $50,000, and Emerging Event Funding with grants of $5,000 to $10,000. Round one will support events held from 1 September 2021 to 30 August 2022. Details, including to apply, at: tourism.sa.gov.au/support/regional-event-fund.
Adelaide Street Stomp celebrates SA wine
A new event for the 2021 calendar, the Adelaide Street Stomp is being held on Friday 26 March, at the Lion Arts Factory. Brought to you by the 2021 Year of South Australian Wine, the event will raise a glass to the state’s world-class wine sector. Around 400 consumers invited via competitions run by Nova 91.9, Adelady and Glam Adelaide will enjoy an interactive night of wine making from d'Arenberg, Kimbolton Wines, Gemtree Wines, David Franz and Zema Estate, as well as food from Sunny’s Pizza. The event is a teaser of what’s to come as part of the 2021 Year of South Australian Wine calendar of wine events and experiences across the state. Keep watch at: southaustralia.com/wine.
SA Tourism Awards – nominate now
Nominations for the 2021 South Australian Tourism Awards are now open. Operators across the state are encouraged to consider an application to the award program, run by the Tourism Industry Council SA (TiCSA), which recognises business excellence and innovation. Winners of the SA Awards will go on to represent South Australia in the national program, the Australian Tourism Awards. More information and to nominate: ticsa.com.au/industry-programs/tourism-awards.
Webinar – positioning your tourism business through social media
Join an online masterclass to help position your tourism business through social media. Hosted by Jesse Desjardins, former Global Manager Social and Content at Tourism Australia and creator of the Guest Experience Map, it is a hands-on webinar for SA tourism businesses, fully-funded by the Adelaide Business Hub, Australian Small Business Advisory Services (ASBAS) Digital Solutions SA Program. Held via Zoom on Wednesday 31 March at 1:30pm. Details: adelaidebusinesshub.com.au/digital-workshops-mentoring/tourism-masterclass.