TOURISM VICTORIA ANNUAL REPORT

EVENTS
Wine, Food and Jazz Festival, Echuca, The Murray.
of the event. Since the integration of
Melbourne branding into the telecast,
exposure of the city has increased
by 186 per cent to 1,669 hours with
an equivalent advertising value of
approximately $US286 million.
The Victorian Spring Racing Carnival
is the largest social event on Victoria’s
calendar each year. The State Government
recognises the importance of the
Spring Racing Carnival in terms of the
tourism that it generates for Victoria
as a drawcard for international and
interstate visitors, and the broader
economic and employment benefits
derived by the state. A study generated
by the Racing Victoria Limited indicated
that the 2007 Spring Racing Carnival
was worth $541 million in gross
economic benefit to the Victorian
economy. This represents the secondhighest
economic result on record.
In 2007, due to the effects of equine
influenza, the number of international
and interstate visitors who came to
Victoria primarily to attend the carnival
was down on the previous year. The
carnival still attracted in excess of
77,000 visitors, further demonstrating
its level of importance to the Victorian
events tourism industry.
Other Hallmark and special events held
in Melbourne during 2007–08 included
some of Australia’s largest events –
the Formula 1 ING Australian
Grand Prix, Melbourne Food and Wine
Festival, Melbourne International Arts
Festival, AFL Grand Final Week and
the Boxing Day Test which showcased
Australia competing against India at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Tourism Victoria assisted with the
program development and tourism
marketing of a variety of events that
have proved successful in attracting
visitors to regional Victoria. These
events include the Awakenings Festival
in Horsham, Riverboats, Wine Food
and Jazz Festival at Echuca, National
Celtic Festival in Portarlington,
Mildura Country Music Festival, Great
Ocean Road International Marathon,
Queenscliff Music Festival and the
Warrnambool International Children’s
Festival (Fun4Kids).
The Events Program also supported
a number of new events during the
financial year, including providing
$100,000 to the Regional Blockbuster
Exhibition series in Bendigo and
$15,000 to the 2009 Chillout Festival
in Daylesford.
Tourism Victoria’s Events Broadcast
Strategy highlights the opportunities
for generating additional national
and international exposure for
Melbourne and Victoria via eventrelated
broadcasts. The strategy also
addresses how Tourism Victoria can
maximise these opportunities and has
identified specific events that provide
the opportunity to include destination
footage in television broadcasts. In most
cases, these events have an ongoing or
year-by-year funding arrangement with
the State Government.
Country Victoria Events Program
The Country Victoria Events Program
targets lesser-known regional events
that have community support and also
promote the tourism image of their
respective regions. Some of these events
develop to become eligible for additional
funding to support development and
tourism marketing strategies.
44 MARKETING