TOURISM VICTORIA ANNUAL REPORT

Tourism Victoria works with the cruise
ship and tourism industries, including Port
of Melbourne Corporation, to promote
Victoria as an ideal destination for luxury
cruise ships. To meet the needs of the
modern fleet of cruise ships and the
expectations of their passengers, Station
Pier infrastructure and facilities underwent
an upgrade by Port of Melbourne
Cooperation with the benefit of a
significant $15 million contribution from
the Victorian Government.
The 2008–09 season is forecast to be
the largest to date, with 64 cruise ship
visits scheduled. Records show that the
number of cruise ships visiting Victoria
has improved over the past 16 years,
with the number of ships increasing
from 14 in 1991–92.
In August 2007, Tourism Victoria
in conjunction with the Port of
Melbourne, secured the 2008 Cruise
Down Under Conference to be held in
Melbourne. This conference was held
in August 2008 and included three
top international cruise executives
representing Princess Cruises, Carnival
UK and Fred Olsen Line, inbound
tour operators, ports and tourism
businesses.
Food & Wine
Food and wine continues to be a key
product sector within Victoria’s tourism
offer. A range of marketing campaigns
were delivered throughout 2007–08
aided and informed by extensive and
ongoing research, industry and product
development.
Intrastate awareness of Victoria’s food
and wine experience was further
developed in partnership with The Age
through the publication of a fortnightly
eight-page pull-out feature – Discover.
Distributed in Saturday’s A2 supplement,
Discover highlighted Victoria’s regions,
focussing on wineries, produce,
restaurants and accommodation.
Funding from the 2007–08 State
Budget was used to finance the
insertion of the Discover series into
the Sydney Morning Herald. To support
the Discover initiative, 30,000 copies of
the eighth edition of the Wine Regions
of Victoria were distributed to Sydney
Morning Herald subscribers on the same
day as the food and wine feature.
Wine Regions of Victoria was also
distributed through regular channels as
well as at the Good Food and Wine
Shows in Melbourne and Sydney. The
production of the ninth edition of
the Wine Regions of Victoria brochure
commenced in March and will be
launched late 2008.
Tourism Victoria collaborated with
and provided funding to the Victorian
Wine Industry Association to deliver
the regional photography project. A
suite of regional images were delivered
to effectively provide for the ongoing
marketing needs of all stakeholders.
Tourism Victoria’s Identities Project
continued delivering the opportunity
to highlight our unique food and wine
individuals and destinations through
focussed editorial and images. Tourism
Victoria developed the Identities Project
in response to growing visitor interest
in meeting locals and experiencing their
favourite destinations and experiences.
Twenty-four inspirational Victorians who
specialise in fields that correspond to
the State’s key product strengths of arts
and cultural heritage, food and wine,
nature-based tourism or Indigenous
tourism, shared their preferred
experiences in Melbourne or their
region. The information was collated
into a series of 14 fact sheets titled,
A Few of my Favourite Things, which
MARKETING
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