River recovery update, smashing event news, strong regional stats, & more…
The first day of summer and the festive season starts to ramp up, which means we can expect more visitors out and about across our state over the coming months.
The travel period for round two of our River Revival Voucher program came to a close yesterday, with confirmation of the economic impact and details of the third round to be announced next month. There is no doubt this initiative has done its job in stimulating visitation across the river regions and I look forward to it continuing to do so in the New Year.
Grant applications for the Murray River Tourism Business Support Program are currently being assessed after closing last Friday. A total of 14 applications were received from tourism operators across the Mid Murray Council region and low-lying neighbouring areas, with details of successful grant recipients to be announced soon.
Looking to event news, yesterday we learned South Australian tennis hero Alicia Molik has been announced as the new Tournament Director of the Adelaide International, WTA 500 and ATP 250 event. The news comes as six more players have been confirmed to hit The Drive courts on 8-13 January.
The global tournament sets up back-to-back international sporting events in our state this January, including the Santos Tour Down Under and the Australia v West Indies Test Match at Adelaide Oval.
As you may have seen, Vietjet has commenced its five weekly flights into Adelaide – the first Vietnamese airline to make Adelaide a regular destination. The airline offers connection options to 125 domestic and international destinations, providing greater access into key tourism markets in Asia, currently worth a combined $602 million to our state. The commencement received great media coverage, as more visitors from across the world ‘travel our way’.
Speaking of visitors, new data released this week shows that more rooms were booked across regional South Australia in October 2023 than any other month on record. With more than 146,000 rooms occupied during the month, that is nearly 20,000 more rooms booked than in October 2019.
Kangaroo Island operators are preparing themselves for a big week, as next week they will welcome three cruise ships in as many days – including two maiden voyages. The island will also mark an important milestone, with the reopening of Southern Ocean Lodge.
Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer
South Australian Tourism Commission