Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling OAM, MP: This wonderful resort that is such a great testament to the vision and foresight, and investment of the Airport Development Group. To have the Novotel and the Mercure come together in such a magnificent resort is absolutely fantastic. And I could think of no better place for our exciting launch that we're here to announce today. So, we've got Team Territory. I'm Luke Gosling, the Federal Member for Solomon Darwin and Palmerston, but also the PM’s Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans and Northern Australia. And with Team Territory, with the NT Tourism Minister, Marie-Clare Boothby. She's got lots of other hats, but today we're talking about tourism. And of course, our favourite honorary Territorian, Don Farrell, the Federal Tourism Minister who's here to just be part, and to announce this great announcement for tourism in the Northern Territory and for Australia. Thanks very much for coming down, and I'll pass on to Marie-Claire or Don, sorry.
Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell: Here we go. Thank you. Thank you, Luke. And thank you for the great work you do on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory. And it's great to be here with Minister Boothby. Things have changed since I first arrived in Darwin in 1976. There was simply a tin shed here that greeted you. And of course, we now have an event at this magnificent Novotel and Mercure resort right here at the airport.
The good news is that in October next year, one of the biggest tourism events in the country and for the first time in the Northern Territory, we're going to have our G'Day Australia event right here in Darwin. This brings about 300 tourism operators from around the world, plus about 100 Australian operators, all to Darwin, all for four days to talk about one thing and one thing alone. That is just how good Darwin is as a tourist destination, just how good the Northern Territory is as a tourist destination. And of course, how wonderful it is to visit Australia as a tourist destination. Right here on our doorstep, you've got so many attractions that appeal to overseas visitors. We know they're coming back in great numbers. We know from the research that Tourism Australia has done that there's a real pent-up demand for people to come to Australia. We need to unlock that and get those tourists back here, both in the wet and the dry, to the Northern Territory, to Darwin. And that's exactly what we're going to do.
So, thank you to Minister Boothby for supporting this campaign. G'Day Australia, we've just launched a terrifically new and successful campaign right across the world to entice people to Australia. We want to get them to Darwin. We want to get them to the Northern Territory so that they get that wonderful experience of travelling in Australia. So, congratulations to the Northern Territory. It's going to be a wonderful event and I look forward to coming up to joining you then. Now I'm going to hand over to Minister Boothby. Thank you.
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT Marie-Clare Boothby: Thank you, Don. And it's incredibly exciting today to announce that we are going to hold the G' Day Australia Forum right here in Darwin, in the top end. Being in October, that's actually our off-peak season. So, to have 600 delegates from around Australia and the world to come here and experience what we know and love about the territory and the top end in October, in our build-up to the wet season, we're on the back of an amazing bumper dry season with the cricket here for the first time in 17 years. The Darwin Festival is alive and well right now as I speak. Of course, we were on the back of the Darwin Cup Carnival as well, which has great interstate numbers that came through the gates. So, of course, now we want to turn our focus to the shoulder season, the off-peak season. That build-up that we know is so hot, and sometimes tourists get a bit afraid of that. But we know and love that the build-up is a wonderful time to visit the territory. There are so many amazing attractions to go and see and experience. Our hot, humid climate, the build-up of the storms, it's going to be fantastic. So, we welcome this great initiative between Tourism Australia, the Federal Government, of course, the Northern Territory Government. Thank you. Happy to take questions, or Don is as well [indistinct].Actually, I might even throw to [indistinct] quickly. Robin.
Tourism Australia, Robin Mack: Hi, it's wonderful to be here for the launch of G'Day Australia, and we're going to be seeing 300 travel agents from around the world coming to Darwin for the first time for this event. They're from our key markets and very important markets for the NT, for Darwin and for all of Australia. There'll be travel agents coming from the US, from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and many, many more. And the great thing is these 300 travel agents, over half of them have never been to Australia before, and we know when they come and experience the destination, they go home, they're more confident to sell Australia and Darwin, and they're really immersed in the destination, and we know they're going to love it.
Journalist: Sorry, do you mind just saying your name and title as well?
Mack: Robin Mack, Executive General Manager, Global Markets and Business Events for Tourism Australia.
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: Any questions from anybody?
Journalist: Maybe for yourself. This is in the off-season, when it is very hot and sticky in Darwin. Would it be better to host it during the dry or at a more peak tourism time?
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: We know that people love to visit the Territory in the dry season, regardless, because it is winter down south, it's cold and freezing, and we have a beautiful offering here in the Territory, and we do get travellers that come for those major events that we have throughout the dry season. The most exciting thing about having this delegation come in October in our build-up is that we can actually showcase the Northern Territory as a place that you can visit all year round. And I think being able to those delegates to immerse themselves in what we have to offer at that time is the perfect opportunity to showcase to the world what the Northern Territory has to offer.
Journalist: Is the NT Government contributing any funding for this?
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: This is a supported collaboration between Tourism Australia and the Northern Territory Government. We'll work hand in hand together to bring this event to Darwin, and we want to make sure it's a success so that everybody benefits from the event.
Journalist: Just one for Minister Farrell. [indistinct]
Minister for Trade and Tourism: Not that I'm aware of, of course. We have very strict biosecurity rules that apply to American beef coming into Australia. The 10-year process to consider whether we should open our markets to American beef has been completed, and a couple of weeks ago we took the decision that we would allow American beef. But to the best of my knowledge, no beef has arrived. But I will investigate and see if we've got any reports that I can pass on there.
Journalist: How much is being spent on this G'Day Australia, and what returns are you expecting?
Minister for Trade and Tourism: Well, we expect fantastic returns because we know that once people come to the Northern Territory, get that first experience, they keep coming back. As to the exact details, I might throw to Robin because he's a bit closer to the financials of this project.
Mack: Having G'Day Australia here in Darwin shows that we're actually going to be bringing two million dollars into the local economy during the event itself. It's four nights, 300 travel agents from around the world, a 100 tourism operators that are here as well. But it's the future benefit that comes from this event that is the really important thing to note. And what's going to happen is these 300 travel agents, they're going to return home and they're going to be selling a lot more holidays to Darwin, the NT and Australia. And that's a long tail effect that we'll see for many, many years to come.
Journalist: Tourism operators in Central Australia, particularly around Alice Springs, over the past year or so, they've taken a bit of a hit [indistinct] How are they being moved into this process? How are they being considered?
Mack: So, in terms of operators, this is an open program to everyone around Australia to come and experience G'Day Australia. The 100 tourism operators come from around the country and they'll include many from all parts of the Northern Territory. And they get the opportunity to showcase their products and experience to these 300 travel agents, and just show how amazing they are.