Tourism News
133 CYCLISTS TO CONTEST TOUR DOWN UNDER
Five past Tour Down Under winners will be riding in the 2008 UCI ProTour
Tour Down Under.
They include 1999 and 2001 winner Stuart O’Grady, 2003 winner Mikel
Astarloza, 2005 winner Luis León Sánchez, 2006 winner Simon
Gerrans and 2007 winner Martin Elminger.
Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says the cycling lineup, representing
22 countries, will vie for honours in the first UCI ProTour race
of the season.
“The 2008 Tour Down Under will rewrite cycling history as the UCI
ProTour calendar debuts outside of Europe in our own backyard in
South Australia,” Minister Lomax-Smith says.
“133 riders from 22 countries will start the cycling season at the 2008
Tour Down Under.
“We look forward to welcoming back to our State Queensland’s Allan
Davis, the only rider to have ridden all 10 editions of the race
as part of the Australian National Team sponsored by UniSA.
“The 2008 Tour Down Under will include 21 Australian riders, including
Australian champions Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwen.
“Stuart had an action filled 2007 season, conquering the stone cobbles
of the 105th Paris-Roubaix one-day cycling classic to become the
first Australian to take out overall event honours in this truly
prestigious race.”
The 2008 Tour Down Under will include the national champion of Estonia
Erki Putsep from Bouygues Telecom and Luxemburg’s national
champion Benoit Joachim from Astana.
Tour Down Under Race Director, Mike Turtur says, as a UCI ProTour event,
it is now an obligation for all UCI licensed ProTour teams in the
world to compete in the Tour Down Under.
“In the past the Tour Down Under has been restricted to a competing
field of only 50% UCI ProTour teams,” Mr Turtur says.
“The move to UCI ProTour means we will have the world’s best teams in
South Australia.”
For further information visit www.tourdownunder.com.au
The 2008 Tour Down Under will be the first ever ProTour cycling race to
be staged outside of Europe from 22 to 27 January 2008, starting
with the Down Under Classic on Sunday 20 January.
For more information please call Michele D’Aloia on 08 8463 4695.
TOURISM PROVIDES CASH INJECTION FOR SA
Spending by domestic visitors to South Australia is up 11 percent to a
record high $3.8 billion, figures released last month show.
The National Visitor Survey results, for the 12 months to September
2007, also reveal the number of domestic visitors to South
Australia was up on a year ago, as were the number of nights spent
in the State by Australian visitors.
Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says the results are encouraging news
for our tourism industry, and show our marketing strategies are
hitting the mark.
“The great news is that the highest growth in visitor expenditure is in
regional South Australia, where there has been a 15 per cent rise
in spending,” Dr Lomax-Smith says.
“Tourism is the economic life-blood of many of our State’s regional
communities, so these latest figures show we’re really on the
right track.
“That has never been more important than now for regional communities
feeling the brunt of drought and bushfires.”
Dr Lomax-Smith says the latest increase of three per cent in domestic
visitor numbers to South Australia, along with a two per cent rise
in nights spent here by visitors, are encouraging – but the
industry still has a challenge ahead to make sure these gains
continue.
“These improvements in the South Australian domestic tourism market come
off the back of a tough couple of years for the industry, when
high petrol prices, competition for Australians’ discretionary
dollar and increased international travel at the expense of
domestic holidays really hit home.
“While an 11 per cent rise in domestic visitor spending is a great
result, we still have work to do to reach the record numbers of
visitors we achieved in 2004.
“In order to do that, we need to encourage more investment in
world-class tourism development, aggressively market our key
tourism strengths and step up to grab an ‘unfair share’ of the
domestic tourism market.
“The South Australian Government is focussed on lifting our competitive
performance by an average six per cent annually – and that’s not
something we can do alone.
“The challenge for the State’s tourism industry now is to really deliver
a total holiday experience to visitors that will really wow them
and have them coming back for more.”
For more information please call Julia Angove on 08 8463 4570.
SA TAKES THE LEAD ON CLEAN, GREEN TOURISM
South Australia is positioning itself as Australia’s premier clean,
green tourism destination.
The local tourism industry is taking the lead on national climate change
initiatives to build on the State’s reputation for protecting its
natural environment.
Tourism officials attending the December Tourism Roundtable meeting in
Adelaide heard about and discussed ways the State could strengthen
a credible ‘green’ message to tourists.
A new working group, bringing together the expertise of tourism industry
professionals and State Government, was formed at the Tourism
Roundtable in August.
Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says the group is looking at ways
clean, green tourism in SA can become a competitive advantage in
selling the State as a holiday destination.
“As people become more aware of climate change’s effects on the planet,
they are looking for holidays that minimise their impact on the
environment.
“Our State is already a leader when it comes to sustainable tourism, and
the task of the working group is to find ways to continue to
create a responsible tourism industry that takes care of the
environment.
“It’s also important that we find ways to develop and sell our authentic
green credentials as a holiday destination to attract even more
visitors from around Australia and the world.”
Last month, it was announced that a world-first industry-led program to
reduce the tourism industry’s carbon footprint would be trialled
first in South Australia.
“The State Government is demonstrating its commitment to sustainable
tourism through its support for Ecotourism Australia’s new Climate
Change Certification program, which will allow the travelling
public to identify accommodation and tours that are committed to
reducing their carbon emissions.
“South Australia is already home to around 15% of the nation’s Eco
Certified tourism operators and more than 20% of South Australia
is set aside as reserves for conservation – a greater percentage
than any other mainland State.
“We will also be hosting the next National Ecotourism Conference in
2008, showing off our ecotourism experiences to more than 400
conference delegates from around the world.
“One of the big environmental challenges for South Australia’s tourism
industry is overcoming misconceptions that water levels in the
Murray River are too low for tourism activities.
“The State Government has banded together with the industry to make sure
sustainable tourism is supported on the river, where there is
still plenty of water for houseboating and watersports.”
For more information please call Julia Angove on 08 8463 4570.
INTERNATIONAL VISITORS FLOCK TO SA
South Australia continues to out-perform the rest of the nation when it
comes to international tourists, according to the latest
statistics.
The number of visitors coming to our State for holidays or visiting
friends and relatives rose 12% to 309,000 for the year to
September 2007 – well above the national average of a 3% increase.
Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says the latest figures from the
International Visitor Survey’s statistics are a fantastic result
for South Australia, given that they include the traditionally
quieter winter period.
“The even better news is that tourists have really been spending up big
in our State, with expenditure of $275 million – up 18% for the
year to September 2007 compared to one year ago,” Dr Lomax-Smith
says.
“That extra money is flowing into communities right across South
Australia, and demonstrates the importance of tourism as an
economic driver, especially in regional areas of the State.”
Dr Lomax-Smith says the number of nights spent in our State by
international tourists during the year to September 2007 was also
climbing faster than the national average of 9% – up 13% on the
previous 12 months to 3.8 million.
“These survey results are excellent news for our tourism industry and
the State’s economy. They clearly indicate our international
marketing strategies are hitting the mark.
“The South Australian Government has been working hard to encourage more
international flights into Adelaide and 27 international flights
per week now arrive at Adelaide Airport – up from 13 in 2003.
“South Australia is also gearing up for a brilliant season of events – a
proven drawcard for international visitors.
“Sports fans can look forward to the Tour Down Under in January –the
first UCI ProTour event ever held outside Europe – as well as the
Clipsal 500 Adelaide, Magic Millions the new SWATCH FIVB Beach
Volley World Tour and the IRB Rugby Sevens.
“For arts and music lovers there’s the Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Bank
Festival of Arts and WOMADelaide – all coming up in the first
three months of next year.”
The overall number of international visitors to South Australia,
including business and student travellers as well as tourists, was
up by 6% to 373,100 for the year to September 2007.
For more information please call Julia Angove on 08 8463 4570.
FIRST ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL A SUCCESS
The first, annual Adelaide International Guitar Festival attracted more
than 30,000 attendees to enjoy over a week of the best music to be
heard anywhere on the planet.
Event Producer, Christine Schloithe, says she’s been absolutely
delighted with the glowing responses from both audiences and
artists to this new music festival.
She says artists, without exception, have expressed their wish to come
back in future years and audiences are already saying how much
they will be looking forward to 2008.
Over the 10 days of the festival, more than 70 artists entertained,
amused and educated guitar-lovers from across the globe.
There was finger-pickers & shredders, slide maestros and virtuosos from
all genres who have offered a range of extraordinary experiences
for concert-goers of all tastes.
Adelaide’s “Guiness Book of World Records” attempt to have the largest
guitar-band in the world kicked off festival proceedings, with
over 2,000 people in Elder Park on a balmy Friday evening.
The Australian record now resides in Adelaide with a new attempt already
planned for the 2008 program.
Concerts by Slava Grigoryan, Kaki King, Jeff Lang & Guests and Caliente
were all sold out.
The co-production between the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide
Festival Centre “Rhapsodie Espagnole” was a major success with the
Festival Theatre itself close to capacity each night.
Planning for the 2008 event is already underway. Adelaide Festival
Centre CEO and Artistic Director, Douglas Gautier, says this first
AIGF line up has included some of the world's very best guitarists.
“It has been an impressive foundation on which to build the Festival's
reputation for future years. Not only do we now hold the National
record for biggest guitar band, we are confident of grabbing the
world record at the next Festival,” he says.
For more information please phone Petrina Egan on 08 8216 8699.
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