Melbourne ranked as Australia’s top cultural destination, adding $1b to state economy
The Boston Consulting Group’s Melbourne As A Global Cultural Destination report ranks it as the top cultural destination in the country, third in the Asia Pacific and twelfth in the world for arts and culture.
32% of all international visitors to the city are cultural tourists, tipped to grow to 40% in eight years.
It estimates cultural tourism as currently worth $1 billion to the state’s economy. By 2025, cultural tourists from China, the fastest growing sector, could alone be worth $1.2 billion.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said, “This report shows Victoria is Australia’s creative state and more importantly, a global leader.
“Our creative industries contribute $23 billion a year to Victoria. They don’t just make this a great place for visitors, but somewhere artists and creatives want to live and work.”
The report does not break out specific figures on how contemporary music draws cultural tourists.
But it does indicate that the large number of the city’s music venues (“the world’s highest concentration of live music venues”) and festivals featuring music are part of the appeal.
“This report confirms that live music is one of the state’s greatest tourist assets,” Patrick Donovan, CEO of Music Victoria, told TMN.
“And it is not dominated by one institution or one style of music – Victoria’s music scene is built on its diversity and offers something for every music lover at its venues, festivals, or celebrating its rich history at AC/DC, Amphlett or Roland S Howard Lanes or the soon to be launched Australian Music Vault.
“We look forward to working closely with theindustry, State Government and Visit Victoria to better promote to the world Victoria’s greatest secret – its music.”
TMN understands that the Victorian Government plans to, down the track, collect data on how many visitors come to the state to attend metro and regional music festivals, and will expand its Rockin’ The Laneways initiative.
According to the Boston Consulting Group’s report, Melbourne is third leading cultural mecca in the Asia Pacific, after Tokyo and India’s film centre Mumbai.
Globally it is ahead of Barcelona, Edinburgh, San Francisco and Seoul in a list led by London, New York and Paris.
Comparisons were based on a number of factors including the number of creative events and venues to the number of residents employed in the creative sector (8% of the workforce) – to reveal how the city compares locally and globally.
Melbourne’s mix of historical and contemporary cultural venues, year-round calendar of events and strong independent arts sector is cited as some reasons for its attraction to cultural tourism.
The report states the city has the most visited film centre in the world, has the largest games festival in Asia Pacific; third largest comedy festival in the world; highest concentration of commercial galleries in Australia; the country’s leading commercial theatre sector; has the 19th most visited art gallery in the world; has 17 million objects in Museum Victoria; and is home to 85,000 designers.
But after discussions with 60 key arts agencies, CEOs and board members and thought leaders, it also warned that Melbourne faces competition from overseas and Australian cities whose civic authorities are increasingly investing in cultural infrastructure and activity.
For instance, NSW is to spend $600 million on projects such as the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct and the redevelopment of the Opera House, with additional investments in key venues.
WA has invested $430 million in the New Museum for Western Australia; the SA Government is considering a new contemporary cultural institution.
According to Destination NSW, in a report published in December 2016, of the 12.3 million international tourists to NSW, 67% were cultural tourists, 72% were from the US, 71% from the UK and 70% from China.
The Melbourne report also found that the city also needs to lift its game in the way it is marketed and promoted abroad.
It identified five strategic priorities to increase Melbourne’s position: increasing consumer awareness of Melbourne especially lifting its social media presence; protecting existing infrastructure; expanding and optimising the offer; and enhancing governance.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren commented, “We’re Australia’s cultural capital and have one of the best art scenes in the world – this work proves it yet again.
“Our creative and cultural offerings are powerful drawcards for tourists, and we’re investing to attract even more visitors to Victoria and create more jobs in the sector over the next decade.”
The full report can be read online at Creative Victoria.
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