Investment in leisure tourism in Canberra to pay dividends
The accommodation industry in Canberra is looking forward to an injection of business from the GWS Giants’ first match for premiership points in the national capital today.
According to the Accommodation Association of Australia, having regular AFL football in Canberra is an effective way of creating greater demand for accommodation from people who are travelling for leisure purposes.
“The accommodation industry is confident that the $26 million which has been committed by the ACT Government over the next 10 years to host regular Giants matches in Canberra will pay dividends for tourism,” said the Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Munro.
“The mainstay for accommodation businesses in Canberra is government and government-related business on weekdays, so the ACT Government deserves credit for making such a significant investment in leisure tourism events that take place on weekends.
“More broadly, our sector has noticed the growth of what operators are calling ‘emerging commuter business’ where interstate travel for either watching or participating in a sporting event, for some other form of entertainment or for family events, such as a wedding or significant birthday, is much more prevalent than it was 15 years ago.
“This in turn has resulted in growth for accommodation operators on Saturday nights, so much so, it is now one of the strongest nights of the week for hotels.
“This reinforces the importance of having a diversity of sources for accommodation and tourism business.
“Our industry looks forward to plenty of interstate fans travelling to Canberra for this game and others in the coming years.”
