South Australian Tourism Commission, $69,007,000

Minister for Tourism, $4,796,000

Administered Items for the Department of Treasury and Finance, $1,592,537,000

Membership:

Mr Pisoni substituted for Mr Bell.

Mr Knoll substituted for Mr Pederick.

Minister:

Hon. L.W.K. Bignell, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing.

Departmental Advisers:

Mr R. Harrex, Chief Executive, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Ms S. Rozokos, Chief Financial Officer, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr M. Warren, Director, Motor Sport Group, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr N. Jones, General Manager, Destination Development and International Marketing, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Ms H. Rasheed, General Manager, Events SA, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Ms E. Nicholls, Director, Marketing and Communications, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr A. Gilbert, Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide Convention Centre.

Mr A. Kirchner, Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Mr L. Harrington, Director of Finance, Adelaide Convention Centre.

The CHAIR: I declare the proposed payments open for examination and refer members to the Agency Statements at Volume 4. I call on the minister to make an opening statement if he has one and to introduce his advisers.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: What a great week it has been for tourism in South Australia. It was fantastic to welcome the Liverpool Football Club to Adelaide this week, along with 10,000 visitors from interstate and overseas who came to watch the friendly against Adelaide United. Major events are a significant economic driver for the state, with this game in particular pumping an estimated $10 million into the local economy. It was fantastic to see Adelaide Oval filled with 53,000 spectators for Liverpool's inaugural match in South Australia, taking the total number of people to visit the redeveloped stadium to 107,000 in just two days with the inclusion of the record-breaking Showdown 39 on Sunday afternoon.

The state government has identified 10 economic priority areas which will ensure South Australia continues to unlock its full potential. Tourism and the visitor economy is an economic priority for the state, and the 2015-16 South Australian budget reinforces the government's confidence in the value of the tourism industry to our economy. The state budget included a major funding package of almost $50 million over two years to drive the economy and create jobs in two growth industries: tourism and international education.

During the past year, more than five million overnight visitors spent more than $5.2 billion in South Australia across 18,000 tourism businesses, directly employing 32,000 South Australians. Although only about 23 per cent of South Australians live in the state's regions, these areas account for 43 per cent of tourism expenditure, underlining the importance of tourism to our regional economies and regional jobs.

The additional funds will support the government's efforts in achieving the full potential of an $8 billion tourism industry by 2020. This would generate a further 10,000 jobs in South Australia. This is an ambitious target with strong market gains required. It is the perfect time to invest in the growing tourism industry. The additional funds will be invested in promoting Adelaide and South Australia to Australia and to the world and to raise awareness for our competitive strengths in food and wine, festivals and events, accessible nature and wildlife and a vibrant city.

At the heart of the funding package in the state budget for tourism is $35 million over two years to promote South Australia to domestic and key international markets to secure new major events and conferences and to create thousands of tourism-related jobs. The South Australian Tourism Commission has been tasked with allocating these funds to deliver maximum impact for the state and for the tourism industry.

Also, $14 million will be spent on increasing tourism marketing in our key international markets. The additional funds will help to achieve our target of increasing expenditure from international visitors from $735 million to $1.24 billion and maintaining and growing air capacity, taking international weekly seats into Adelaide from 12,200 to 14,500.

The investment will allow us to undertake additional marketing in China, India, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the UK, USA, Germany and New Zealand. This will create further visitor expenditure, protect and increase direct air access and grow trade and business investment opportunities. China is a key market and will be allocated a further $3 million to promote South Australia through partnerships with key airlines, digital social media campaigns, hosting influential media in South Australia, collaborating with the education sector and leveraging the Hong Kong Ocean Park opportunity.

Malaysia and Singapore will have funding of $1 million for a digital online campaign in Malaysia, as well as a campaign with Singapore's largest media corporation, MediaCorp, to leverage broadcast, radio, magazine and newspaper promotions. In addition, $1 million will be spent in India to drive and grow visitors by maintaining and increasing momentum from the ICC Cricket World Cup match through a public relations strategy and activities in India.

The US, the UK and New Zealand will be allocated an additional $2 million which will focus on a dedicated marketing campaign aimed at building awareness and leveraging direct flights into bookings. The domestic market is also very important for the state, and we have allocated $6 million to marketing campaigns to promote Adelaide and regional tourism experiences to the rest of Australia. The aim is to increase expenditure from interstate visitors from $1.37 billion to $2.13 billion, as well as increase intrastate expenditure from $1.19 billion to $1.61 billion.

The funds will be used to boost activities which increase awareness, consideration, visitation and expenditure from our interstate markets. There will also be a focus on the state's regions, as we aim to increase expenditure in regional South Australia from $2.24 billion a year to $3.55 billion. Regions are a key element of the state's story and will feature strongly as part of our national marketing strategy. There will be targeted promotion of the state's five touring routes. This will focus on the self-drive holiday market by partnering with the state's motoring industry, and this market share is estimated to be worth $326 million—or 24 per cent—of South Australia's total overnight expenditure.

Major events and conferences are integral to the tourism strategy for South Australia. They drive visitation expenditure and hotel occupancy while also helping to create vibrancy and a sense of pride in our state. We have recently integrated the South Australian Motor Sport Board with the South Australian Tourism Commission, the Clipsal 500 and the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge to complement our other iconic South Australian events managed and supported by Events South Australia, such as the Credit Union Christmas Pageant, the Santos Tour Down Under and Tasting Australia.

These events are great examples of events which not only showcase our state as a unique destination but also attract visitors, spectators and event participants as well as create jobs, increase spend and lengthen the time visitors stay. Securing major events is very competitive, and it is absolutely vital that the state government is equipped to compete on the world stage. With this in mind, $15 million has been allocated to the state government's Event Bid Fund. This includes $5 million to secure conventions, meetings and exhibitions. This will ensure that the potential of the newly-redeveloped Adelaide Convention Centre and the Riverbank is fully utilised. This will deliver greater economic and employment impact through the direct spending of delegates.

Business travellers are high yielding, spending more than $600 per day, which has economic impact for accommodation, retailers, bars and restaurants. The existing $2 million bid fund has ensured that the state has been able to vigorously pursue major convention opportunities in competition with other states. As of 15 May 2015, the Adelaide Convention Centre Fund has helped secure 12 major conventions due to be held between 2015 and 2020. These conventions combined will bring more than 14,000 delegates to Adelaide and generate $55.3 million in economic benefit for South Australia.

Ten million dollars of the events bid fund has been allocated to securing new events. It will build on the 10 events already secured through the fund, which are forecast to have an economic benefit of more than $50 million. The expanded fund will allow the state to secure and develop even more major conventions, sporting, music and arts events, such as the Liverpool match at the Adelaide Oval. Attracting these events will generate significant benefits for our visitor economy and local businesses, as well as create and support hundreds of jobs. Consideration and priority will be given to events held in the quieter off-peak periods, events which utilise the state government's investment in infrastructure, events which provide business and diplomatic opportunities and regional events.

In addition to the $35 million, $6 million over four years has been allocated to further promote and grow the Santos Tour Down Under. The Tour Down Under injects almost $50 million into the state's economy and creates about 450 jobs. This year's event attracted more than 37,000 visitors from interstate and overseas, who travelled especially to South Australia to see the biggest UCI world tour event staged outside of Europe and experience our premium food and wine, stunning regions and vibrant city. The new funds will allow the Tour Down Under to introduce new elements as well, such as continuing to grow and integrate women's cycling and women's content into the event, grow and improve the broadcast content and reach and a focus on international marketing and media activations.

The Adelaide Fashion Festival will also receive $2 million over four years to establish the event in the CBD with a renewed focus on Asian markets. The South Australian Tourism Commission took ownership of the event with the aim of promoting South Australia to a target audience, which includes a China focus, and driving further growth in South Australia's local fashion and creative industries, from retail to design and associated industries.

Fashion events are rapidly growing in popularity in countries such as China, a key market in which we want to promote South Australia. The funding will allow future events to sell a broader South Australian story through traditional and non-traditional media channels, including bloggers, to leverage trade and tourism opportunities and to open China as a market for production and distribution for fashion. Establishing the festival in the CBD supports our vibrant city economic priority and builds on developments already occurring in the CBD, including South Australia's first Tiffany's store and a new global headquarters for local company Australian Fashion Labels on North Terrace.

The 2015-16 state budget recognises the need to work collaboratively with allied sectors such as international education. Therefore, the state budget also includes $5.7 million over four years for a Destination Adelaide campaign to further market South Australia to international students and their families. The benefits of international students extend far beyond the institutions where they study. About half of the students bring a partner or child and about a quarter of the students are visited by a parent during their stay. This funding injection will help market Adelaide as the pre-eminent destination for education and create ongoing tourism and trade opportunities. More than 30,000 international students are enrolled across South Australia and the sector is worth an estimated $972 million to the state each year.

South Australia has the iconic products and experiences international and domestic travellers are seeking, such as the accessibility of our nature and wildlife experiences and our premium food and wine. The South Australian Tourism Commission has the expertise to showcase this to the world. The South Australian Tourism Commission is committed to delivering real economic benefits, promoting confidence and pride amongst South Australians, helping to deliver on the principle of a vibrant city and establishing our state as the destination choice for international and domestic travellers. The team has exhibited strong leadership and strategic thinking which has set the stage for this renewed focus and investment in the tourism industry.

The South Australian Tourism Commission has an incredibly important role to play as we transition from the old economy to the new economy. The investment in tourism underpins the expectations that tourism will deliver significant economic benefits and create jobs for our state. Tourism is a tough and competitive business which demands investment, strategic thinking and innovative approaches, all of which build and showcase South Australia's strength.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the commitment of the South Australian Tourism Commission and the industry for continuing to work towards growing this important economic driver for South Australia.

Mr PISONI: I would like to take the minister to Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, page 140, Program 2: Tourism Events. The purpose of this program is to attract new events and grow existing events. Last year, the minister with an adviser visited Scotland to attend the Commonwealth Games to promote Adelaide's bid to host the games in 2026 and 2030.

This morning when I asked why only one hotel room was paid for at the Radisson Blu Hotel when the minister and his staff member visited Edinburgh, the minister stated, 'There were two rooms booked, there were two rooms used.' The opposition has checked the minister's receipt for that accommodation and it shows that a total of £412 was paid for two nights of bed-and-breakfast accommodation in one room. The Radisson Blu's website shows that their cheapest bed-and-breakfast package is £186 per night.

The opposition is concerned that the published total cost of the minister's trip may be inaccurate and that additional expenditure for a second room may not have been revealed, as required. Will the minister please clarify whether an additional payment was made for accommodation at Radisson Blu Hotel that has not been disclosed?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I thank the member for his question. I did receive that question this morning and we investigated afterwards. Every month, under the disclosure rules, we put up all the costs of travel and other things that have happened in our office. Under the total cost, all those figures were there, but you are relying on something that you put in a freedom of information application on and, for one reason or another, you received in that freedom of information application the receipt for my room, but there was also another receipt that you did not receive and I think that was also for £412. There were actually two rooms paid for, but it did not come to you in the FOI application, for some reason.

Mr PISONI: In the public disclosure that is required on the purchase card summary of expenditure that is available online, there is no second room. As a matter of fact, your credit card is not there for the month of August. Have you failed to publicly disclose that second invoice?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I do not know. It is definitely here and it has been sent through to me from my office, so I have a copy of that and I am quite prepared to give you a copy of that receipt. It looks like it must have been some sort of administration error or something like that.

Mr PISONI: On whose credit card was that paid?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I am not sure, but we can get all that information and get that back to you. The thing is that there were two rooms and there were two bills and they have both been paid for.

The CHAIR: Are there any questions on my right?

Mr GEE: Can the minister advise what the Adelaide Convention Centre bid fund achieved in 2014—

The CHAIR: What budget line are you on?

Mr GEE: Actually, we will come back to my questions, Madam Chair.

The CHAIR: Member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: Back to me? Thank you very much. Minister, are you confident in saying that this is the only error in your accounting processes for the total cost? It has been reported that $170,000 was spent on overseas travel last year, and there is certainly no publicly disclosed amount available for the Radisson Blu Hotel for a second room. Nor is it available through the FOI process with the request for ministerial expenses and ministerial staff expenses and credit cards. How confident can we be in the public disclosure of the figures your office publishes concerning ministerial expenses and ministerial office expenses as directed by the Premier?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I would be more confident in the work that our office does than some of the things you put up in this place as fact. I think what happens when bills are paid for is they do not necessarily get paid for by the person who has had the room with their credit card because quite often they are paid for in advance by the ministerial office.

Mr GEE: Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, page 151. Can the minister advise what the Adelaide Convention Centre bid fund achieved in 2014-15, and what is planned for the 2015-16 financial year?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I thank the member for his question. The state government allocated $2 million over two years (2014-15 and 2015-16) towards an Adelaide Convention Centre bid fund. The funding was announced by the state government in November 2013. This fund is administered jointly by the SATC, the Adelaide Convention Centre and the Adelaide Convention Bureau.

The additional funding has ensured South Australia has been able to vigorously pursue major convention opportunities in competition with other states. This has been done with great success to date at a return on investment of 76:1, which is an incredible figure. For every dollar that we spend, $76 gets spent in our state. The fund is used only to attract events to the Adelaide Convention Centre; however, the economic and job benefits are spread across many sectors such as accommodation, retailers, bars and restaurants.

As of 16 June 2015, the convention bid fund has helped secure 13 major conventions due to be held between 2015 and 2020. These conventions combined will bring more than 15,000 delegates to Adelaide and generate $61.2 million in economic benefit for the state. The above result represents a 76:1 return on investment for the fund. In May 2015, there were an additional 14 active and proposed bids for events with a total of 16,900 delegates and an estimated economic value of more than $89 million. Some of the wins as a result of the fund are:

Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference in 2016 and 2019, with 3,000 delegates (1,500 per event), 15,058 bed nights (7,500 per event) and a total estimated economic benefit of $12.4 million to the state ($6.2 million per event);

SimTecT and SimHealth Conference 2015, with 800 delegates and an estimated economic benefit of $2.5 million to the state;

Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Conference and Exhibition 2018, with 2,500 delegates, 5,915 bed nights and a $9.4 million estimated economic benefit to the state;

International Council on Systems Engineering International Symposium 2017, with 750 delegates, 4,330 bed nights and a $4.7 million estimated economic benefit to the state;

Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists 2016, with 800 delegates, 2,294 bed nights and $1.9 million estimated economic benefit to the state;

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons ASC 2017, with 2,000 delegates, 12,516 bed nights and $9.8 million estimated economic benefit to the state;

World Federation of Rose Societies Conference 2016, with 600 delegates, 6,279 bed nights and $4.3 million estimated economic benefit to the state; and

AusBiotech 2017 with 1,000 delegates, 4,249 bed nights and $4.4 million estimated economic benefit to the state.

The South Australian Tourism Commission has received an additional appropriation of $5 million over two years to secure more national and international business conventions to Adelaide. This is in addition to the $2 million over 2014-15 and 2015-16. The additional funding will capitalise on the significant government investment in the redeveloped and expanded Adelaide Convention Centre and Riverbank by further boosting the Adelaide Convention Centre's ability to secure major national and international conferences. These conventions bring a significant number of delegates to Adelaide, delivering a significant economic return to the state and creating job opportunities.

Business travellers are high yielding by nature, spending more than $600 per day. For this reason, the global convention industry is now highly competitive, with destinations 'buying' events due to the economic value of conventions to their destination city. It is generally expected that for every dollar invested by a bid fund in a major international event the return to the local economy can be as much as $100, depending on the size and complexity of the event, the length of the convention and pre and post touring of delegates.

Beyond tourism and economic benefits, conventions deliver knowledge transformation for local industry with visiting delegates and global industry leaders; fostering of innovation and creativity, thereby boosting productivity; international profile and awareness for South Australia's industries and achievements; business to business opportunities resulting in export dollars; and research and investment attraction.

Importantly, business events also support the government's move to an advanced manufacturing economy, being closely aligned to the key medical research themes of SAHMRI and the universities, along with high-tech events which will assist the development of defence, bioscience, agribusiness and ICT.

Mr GEE: I refer to Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, pages 140 to 142. Can the minister please provide an update on the latest developments for the 2015 Adelaide Fashion Festival?

The CHAIR: I know he will be mentioning the national calisthenics championship at some point, just from leafing through these papers, won't you?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Again, I thank the member for his question. The Adelaide Fashion Festival was established in 2008 by the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters council. Its focus was to profile developing South Australian designers and to promote the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters district and drive a retail spike in this area. Since its inception, the council has grown the event from a local community event to one which takes in the CBD and metropolitan Adelaide.

In January 2015, the state government entered into discussions with the council on the future management and funding of the festival. In February 2015, it was agreed the South Australian Tourism Commission would take ownership of the event. Events South Australia is currently reviewing past events and meeting with current and potential event stakeholders for feedback and ideas. The initial feedback is to make the Adelaide Fashion Festival shorter, with a higher impact and international level of quality. A program is being created based on that feedback.

Key goals for the event include promoting South Australia to a target audience, which includes Asia—initially China and specifically Shandong—driving further growth in South Australia's local fashion and creative industries from retail to design and associated industries and adding another significant event to South Australia's events calendar which contributes to the state brand and is consistent with the vibrant city agenda.

The 2015 event and future events will look to leverage the sister city relationship with Qingdao in the Shandong region; use the Adelaide Fashion Festival as a vehicle to sell the broader South Australian story through traditional and non-traditional media channels, including bloggers; leverage trade and tourism opportunities; open up China as a market for production and distribution and for fashion designs for South Australian businesses; and support those already in the market, including Australian Fashion Labels, which has just opened two offices in China. The festival will also work with Education Adelaide, TAFE and Flinders University to attract students.

Mr GEE: I have one more question, and the reference is Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, pages 144 to 145. Can the minister tell us what domestic marketing initiatives have been undertaken by the state government in 2014-15 and what activities are planned for 2015-16?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I once again thank the member for the question. This will be of interest to the member for Schubert, who I know is a keen fan of the Barossa. Be Consumed ad, which in 2014-15 was the main focus of the state government's domestic marketing activities. The Barossa campaign included TV, cinema, an activation in Sydney and online activity. In addition, activity for the Adelaide Breathe campaign included cinema, online and press. For these campaigns, the state government partnered with a retail travel agent or airline to be able to offer a retail package or contact number and website for consumers to get more information.

Activity in the intrastate Best Backyard campaign also continued in 2014-15, showcasing the unique products and experiences of the state's individual regions, to give South Australians compelling reasons to visit the regions. Region-specific TV commercials aired on TV, supported by outdoor and online activity. A radio campaign promoted regional events and seasonal experiences from each of the regions, including prerecorded and live reads, competitions, online and social media. We also partnered with Stayz for the Best Backyard campaign to point consumers to stayz.com.au for great accommodation deals around the state.

In addition to the marketing activity, we trained, presented and familiarised 1,114 individual travel consultants and other key trade personnel. We entered into a sponsorship agreement with Virgin Australia to promote four of South Australia's premier events, namely, the Santos Tour Down Under, Adelaide Fringe, Clipsal 500 and WOMADelaide. They also involved Virgin Australia holidays packaging and selling holiday packages to these events. We implemented 22 marketing campaigns, with 15 partners promoting South Australia as a holiday destination. As an example, the following provides information on the three largest co-operative campaigns undertaken:

campaign activity in partnership with Flight Centre, involving nationwide retail in-store South Australia window displays, national newspaper advertising, emails to Flight Centre's database, and inclusion in Flight Centre's national monthly magazine, Flight Centre website promotion and radio commercials;

campaign activity with Virgin Australia, involving national newspaper advertising, emails to Virgin Australia's database, inclusion in Virgin Australia's national monthly in-flight magazine, and inclusion in Virgin Australia's in-flight entertainment system in the way of South Australian videos and Virgin Australia website promotion throughout December 2014; and

activity with wotif.com across its website, along with social media support of the campaign, email to the wotif.com database, advertising across other websites such as news.com.au, and press advertising, which took place in February 2015.

In the digital space, the South Australian Tourism Commission continued to develop and implement content and social media strategies for the Credit Union Christmas Pageant, the Santos Tour Down Under and southaustralia.com websites, as well as supporting domestic and intrastate consumer marketing campaign activities. These activities resulted in continuous social media engagement, website visits, online bookings, sales referrals to tourism operators, increased brand awareness and visitation to South Australia.

Campaign websites were developed for multiple international marketing campaigns, providing points of engagement for consumers. New mobile responsive websites were developed for the Credit Union Christmas Pageant, Santos Tour Down Under and Tasting Australia events. Microsites for the Cricket World Cup and road trips were developed to help visitors plan and experience their time in South Australia.

A new southaustralia.com website and a new day trip planning website, A Day in SA, which will help visitors build their own itineraries or follow recommended plans curated by the South Australian Tourism Commission, were developed and will be ready to use by consumers in the next few months. A tablet magazine app, Visit South Australia, was also developed, which will allow consumers to view and enjoy various digital magazine editions, with multimedia, stories and articles edited around a theme or topic, such as a region or season. This app will also be ready to be used by consumers in the next few months.

Six new Through Local Eyes films were produced. These films see the South Australian Tourism Commission work with South Australian filmmakers to create short films which promote the best of South Australia through online channels such as YouTube and social media. The new films were: Pleasure in Pain, Dirty Apron, Kangaroo Island Hyperlapse, About Food, Chasing a Feeling and You Gotta Try Fleurieu. These six new films have achieved 508,000 views in 2014-15, with a total of 1.75 million views across the full suite of 32 films produced since they were launched in 2013. The state government also supported the following three television programs:

SA Life for 27 episodes, which includes a dedicated tourism segment promoting accommodation, attractions, tours and new establishments, including restaurants and bars around Adelaide and South Australia. That had a regular appearance on the Channel 7 network.

South Aussie with Cosi for 12 television episodes, covering various regions of South Australia and additional online social media activity through Cosi's Facebook page, promoting regional experiences and attractions. That is on the 9 network. Cosi does a tremendous job with his South Aussie with Cosi program, and he is a tremendous ambassador for South Australia.

PLONK is satirical comedy based around a fictional wine show that features real wineries, winemakers, restaurants and events throughout the episodes. Six episodes were produced, highlighting six of our wine regions. PLONK was created by the team behind the ABC's The Chasers War on Everything, and it aired on STAN on 17 June and Channel 9 aired it Adelaide on 7 July. I think it is on every Tuesday night for six weeks. I think we must be up to about episode 3 tonight. It is very good viewing, particularly the McLaren Vale episode with Lez Shiell putting everyone in the little steam tent; it gets a bit crazy.

Going forward, domestic campaigns will be supported and complemented by the new Network SA project using the additional 2015-16 budget funds allocated for domestic marketing. This project will see the creation and distribution of new content. Excitingly, this activity will be much more targeted through undertaking of consumer tracking and data capture, allowing the South Australian Tourism Commission to distribute the type of content based on consumer behaviour and targeting.

More than 200 new pieces of content will be created and distributed across the Fairfax Digital network, social media and on southaustralia.com. In terms of domestic activities, Adelaide. Breathe. will be the main focus and it will include TV, cinema, print, outdoor and online. Barossa. Be Consumed. will air in cinemas, including the outdoor Moonlight Cinema, and both campaigns will be in markets across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. These two domestic campaigns will be supported by the Network SA project. Once again, all advertising activity will offer a retail package or contact details of a trade partner or airline for consumers to get more information.

The Best Backyard campaign will continue to promote regional South Australia to South Australians, as we again partner with Stayz to point consumers to stayz.com.au for great accommodation deals around the state. Our strategic partnerships with leading distribution partners have been successful in the past, and so we will continue with that activity. We will again partner with Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Holidays, Flight Centre Group, Qantas Airways and Expedia to increase awareness of and visitation to South Australia.

The additional domestic marketing funds allocated in the 2015-16 budget will allow us to bolster our cooperative campaigns, in particular with Virgin Australia, allowing the most prevalent domestic partnership South Australia has ever had with an interstate airline. As part of these partnerships, the South Australian Tourism Commission will host a TravelManagers national conference in South Australia, bringing more than 250 interstate top-selling agents to experience a South Australian product during their conference. In the digital space, the South Australian Tourism Commission will continually create and publish content for southaustralia.com.au, the new A Day In South Australia day trip planning app, and the Visit South Australia tablet magazine; maintain and enhance South Australian Tourism Commission websites; and create online bookings and sale referrals for tourism operators.

PLONK will be publicly released on YouTube in September, and to maximise the benefit of this, a communications plan will be implemented to support driving more views to the YouTube PLONK channel, exposing the South Australian series to a wider domestic and international audience. Content from the show will be provided to South Australian celebrities who feature in PLONK, allowing them to distribute through their own social channels.

In terms of the successful Through Local Eyes campaign, we will continue to share and distribute the existing 32 short films whilst looking at creating articles produced by third parties on www.southaustralia.com and other online channels. At least three new video stories will be produced to complement the existing suite of video content.

The CHAIR: Before I ask the member for Unley to continue, I just remind the people in the galleries behind me that their voices and noise carries right down to the floor and it does make it difficult to hear the answers to the questions. Member for Schubert.

Mr KNOLL: The Barossa episode I think aired on Tuesday night, and played a bit unfairly on our Germanic heritage, I think, but it was all in good humour.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I think the Barossa gets another run as well. There is the Clare to Barossa bit.

Mr KNOLL: Yes, I think we have got two runs. I would like to get quite specific, if I can. You stated earlier in estimates today that—

The CHAIR: What line are we on?

Mr KNOLL: We are still on Tourism Events, page 140, within Budget Paper 4, Volume 4. The minister said earlier today that all ministerial travel exists within—

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: What line?

The CHAIR: The member for Wright has just asked you what line.

Mr KNOLL: We are talking about the program summary table where money is expended, which is what we are talking about. Earlier today, the minister outlined that all of his travel is undertaken out of his ministerial office. He has just suggested earlier—

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Point of order.

The CHAIR: The member for Wright has a point of order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: The program summary table is not about ministerial budgets.

Mr KNOLL: I am getting to that point in a second. It can also be about what is not in there as opposed to what is in there. Either way, if I continue on with the question, you said all of your travel came out of the ministerial office. The answer you just gave suggested that through proactive disclosure on your departmental website is where the information is that you just provided in terms of there being a second hotel room at the Radisson.

Looking at the proactive disclosure for the months of July and August, you do not have a credit card statement on the proactive disclosure, so if you have just suggested before that that exists publicly, it does not. But, looking at what is proactively disclosed there in terms of your ministerial adviser's credit card, that does not provide the information that you suggest exists. I would like to give you the opportunity, minister, to correct whether all your travel does come out of your ministerial office and, secondly, give you the opportunity to, if that information which you suggest is publicly available, tell us where it is and, if not, commit to providing that information publicly.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I thank the member for his question. I am not sure it relates to anything that we have got here in our budget estimates, but I will answer it nonetheless. I should give a tip to the member for Schubert, one that the member for Waite learnt, which is do not rely on anything that the member for Unley gives you.

Mr KNOLL: I have my computer right here, minister.

The CHAIR: Order, member for Schubert. If you have the answer in front of you, I do not know why you are asking the question.

Mr KNOLL: The point is I do not have the answer in front of me.

The CHAIR: Then just wait and listen.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: If it is already on the website, you are the person—

The CHAIR: Order!

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The CHAIR: I think there is a lot of improper motive going on.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The CHAIR: Order! I want to hear the minister's answer. Both sides are reminded of 142. Both of you: stop.

Mr PISONI: Madam Chair, point of order. I ask that that be withdrawn.

The CHAIR: What withdrawn?

Mr PISONI: The minister's comments about the member for Unley be withdrawn.

The CHAIR: About not trusting—

Mr PISONI: Improper motives. It is clearly in breach of standing orders.

The CHAIR: Order! Just a minute.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: It was more about your competence.

The CHAIR: Order! The member for Unley has taken offence. We ask you to apologise for the offence that may have been caused to him.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I apologise, just so we can move on, Madam Chair. I have had it confirmed from my office since the initial question that both the room charges were included in the total trip costs that were disclosed, as is required, so the member for Unley was wrong on that count. The reason that the member for Unley only has the receipt of my bill is because he only FOI'd me for that particular travel and not any ministerial advisers. The reason there is nothing for August 2014 in my disclosure about my credit card is because it was not used in August last year.

Mr KNOLL: To follow up from that, minister—basically, you are saying that it was not in the documents we FOI'd. That is fine, except you have contradicted yourself, because we have suggested it is not there and you have suggested that it not there because that is not what we FOI'd. You have suggested, then, that it is proactively disclosed on the website, and it is not. Will you commit to publicly providing this information? By any source that we have tried to use to understand it, it is not available.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Well, you didn't try and get the information; you did not ask for it, so don't try and blame someone else for it not being available.

Mr KNOLL: In your earlier answer you suggested—

The CHAIR: Order!

Mr KNOLL: —that it was proactively disclosed.

The CHAIR: Order! Member for Schubert, it is not your turn to speak.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: It was proactively disclosed. I think—

Mr KNOLL: If the minister could tell me where, that would be wonderful.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I think we have given all the information that we have been asked to provide through FOI. If you want this extra material, I am happy for you to have it. We have absolutely nothing to hide. I think you are trying to build some sort of conspiracy theory into something that it is simply not there.

The CHAIR: Members on my right, do you have any questions?

Ms WORTLEY: I refer to Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, pages 144 to 145, entitled Domestic Marketing. Minister, can you outline how the state government is assisting in promoting South Australian regions? I know you touched on it briefly in the opening statement, but if you could provide more detail, that would be appreciated.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I thank the member for her question. The South Australian government acknowledges the important contributions regions make to the South Australian tourism industry. Working closely with the regions, the state government, through the South Australian Tourism Commission, developed in partnership with the regions destination action plans.

These commit the SATC, across all its units, to agreed areas of engagement with each region. These plans align with the six pillars of the South Australian Tourism Plan 2020, and take account of the regional tourism organisations' own plans and priorities. Each plan identifies achievable priorities which will deliver tourism growth in each region. The first round of these plans covered the period 2012-15, and planned implementation was reviewed with the regions throughout this time.

In 2014-15, the state government provided funding of $30,000 to each of the regional tourism organisations. This contributed to the employment of a local contact person responsible for providing a range of services. These included visitor guide content and PR familiarisation support, communicating to industry, providing advice to regional operators and to the South Australian Tourism Commission, and identifying and implementing projects of agreed strategic significance. The partnership is driven by regular meetings between the South Australian Tourism Commission and the regional chairs and regional tourism managers.

The South Australian Tourism Commission launched five touring routes in September 2014, and developed a mobile responsive website promoting the touring routes. The routes are: Epicurean Way, Explorers Way, Southern Ocean Drive, Mighty Murray Way, and the Seafood Frontier, which I know is very important to the member for Flinders and his constituents, who enjoy some of the most scenic landscapes anywhere in the world and, of course, the best and safest seafood anywhere in the world.

Mr TRELOAR: In the world!

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: In the world, absolutely; don't sell yourself short, member for Flinders. It is a ripper place, and you are very lucky to live there and represent the good people of Eyre Peninsula.

These five touring routes cover all regions of South Australia and offer differing experiences from each other. The SATC also advertised the routes in The Wanderer magazine, targeted at the drive market, and produced marketing collateral, including maps for each touring route to be distributed via South Australia's visitor information centre network. Since launching the touring routes website in September 2014, the Road Trips website has received 34,000 hits to 30 June 2015.

The South Australian tourism consumer website also features new pages dedicated to the touring routes, which have received more than 53,000 hits between September 2014 and 30 June 2015. The state government, through the South Australian Tourism Commission, also produced 13 regional visitor guides, including the Adelaide guide and the South Australian Food and Wine Guide, as well as supporting the production of the 10^th edition of the Nullabor guide. Each guide has printed and online versions.

The South Australian Food and Wine Guide specifically highlights South Australia's 18 wine regions and tourism regions, including Adelaide. The guide also promotes the fresh and unique produce and food experiences available in those regions. The touring routes will continue to be promoted. This includes South Aussie With Cosi and SA Life episodes dedicated to these routes, promotion at key consumer events, working with trade partners to sell packages along the touring routes and the development of new film content and print collateral.

In 2015-16, the state government will offer funding to the 11 regional tourism bodies for marketing activity. The Regional Consumer Cooperative Marketing Fund provides regions a maximum of $20,000 for 2015-16 which can be applied for all at once or in smaller amounts, with a minimum of $5,000 at a time. This fund is for marketing activities targeting consumers directly and is to be matched by the region, essentially doubling the marketing spend. This fund encourages a collaborative approach within the regions whereby the regional body can develop its plans for the funding cooperatively with operators and other stakeholders in their region. This helps to build regional engagement and buy into regional marketing activities.

The South Australian Tourism Commission will also continue to focus on key consumer events as a means to distribute visitor information directly to consumers. Regions are invited to attend these events as part of the South Australian stand that the SATC coordinates. The state government will continue to produce regional visitor guides on behalf of the regions during 2015-16, including the storage and distribution of the guides.

Ms WORTLEY: My next question refers to Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, pages 140 to 142 and, again, you touched on this in your opening statement. It is regarding the Liverpool football match at Adelaide Oval. What I want to know is the benefits of this week's football match between Liverpool and Adelaide United at Adelaide Oval. In saying that, I certainly saw some of the benefits on the evening. It was a fantastic evening. It was a cold July day and we had 53,000-plus people at the oval. What are the additional benefits to our state?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I again thank the member for her question and acknowledge her passion for the world game. She has been a big football supporter for many years. The Liverpool visit to South Australia provided much more than just a great contest of a football match, which Liverpool won 2-0 over Adelaide United—who I thought did a tremendous job against the might of one of the great clubs in the world.

Liverpool is not just a great club on the pitch: they are a tremendous club off the pitch. We saw their professionalism in the dealings that we had with them over the past 12 months in the lead-up to this game. While we are here, I would like to thank Rodney Harrex, Hitaf Rasheed and all the team in Events SA who worked so well with the Liverpool off-field team. When they arrived in town on the weekend, they were professional on and off the pitch in a way that I have never seen from another sporting club.

They brought with them ambassadors, former Liverpool legends of the game. They were professional in the way they conducted themselves and were all dressed in the team uniform. When the players changed from suits to tracksuits the ambassadors did the same thing. It was a great pleasure to host them in a box at the Adelaide Oval for the showdown between the Crows and Port Adelaide. Of course, for the record, the Crows won Showdown 39 by three points. It was the biggest crowd ever, even surpassing the Rolling Stones crowd, with 54,500 people there. It was a tremendous day.

They walked into that box with no knowledge of Australian football. They had seen a little bit of it on the TV. They were amazed to see that there were 18 on each team. The boundary umpires provided the biggest laugh when they threw in the ball. From the very moment they arrived, they started tweeting and putting on the Liverpool website these wonderful images and experiences. Craig Johnston, who is a tremendous ambassador for world football as well as Liverpool, of course, and a great Australian player who won FA cups with Liverpool, was down at Glenelg fishing off the jetty.

All of these tremendous images showing off our state went right around the world so there is an economic benefit which will be delayed benefit—from people who had not heard too much about Adelaide and now they have heard from the legends, their heroes, what a wonderful place Adelaide is and they will come here.

But there was a direct benefit, and we know that 10,000 visitors came from around Australia and from around the world. Talking to Craig on Monday night at the game, he said that as one of his roles as an ambassador he had to go around to different pubs in town. He said that at one pub there was the Brisbane Liverpool fan club, at another pub there was a Sydney one and at another pub there was the Melbourne one, and so you had all these groups of people at different pubs.

Most pubs around Adelaide are not doing a roaring trade on any Monday, and it was tremendous to see the city come to life in the way it did with a combined total of 107,000 people at Adelaide Oval over those two days. We know that the economic impact just from the visitation, from people from interstate and overseas, is around $10 million. It will take a little while until we get all the figures on exactly how much the direct economic benefit will be, but we do know that we have $10 million in our pocket that we did not have before, which is a tremendous return on what was a very wise investment.

Mr KNOLL: I have one final question, and I refer to page 140, Volume 4, Budget Paper 4. I am just giving the minister the opportunity to clarify and put this issue beyond doubt. Given that the minister had on his phone the receipt of the invoice that he was referring to about the second room, would he like to update the committee about the total cost of those rooms over two nights?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I already did that before, Madam Chair. I must say that we are now 56 minutes into this estimates questioning—

Mr KNOLL: Of which 45 minutes have been on government questions.

The CHAIR: Order!

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The visitor economy is worth $52 billion to the South Australian economy. It is incredibly important that we build on that, that we get more visitors coming here from interstate, that we get more visitors coming here from overseas. I know that—

Mr PISONI: Point of order, Madam Chair. This is going nowhere near addressing the substance of the question.

The CHAIR: The minister can continue. We will listen to his answer.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I am sorry, I must correct something. I just said $52 billion; it is $5.2 billion, of course, with respect to the economic benefit that tourism brings to the state. We have people here from the South Australian Tourism Commission, we have the head of the Entertainment Centre, the head of the Convention Centre and we have the man who has run motor sport in this state for several years. All these people have come here today, and I would have thought that the Liberal Party in South Australia would have had some questions about this vital industry.

Mr PISONI: Point of order, Madam Chair. There was no reference to the Liberal Party in the state budget papers, and the minister—

The CHAIR: Order!

Mr PISONI: —has spent 45 minutes on Dorothy Dixers—

The CHAIR: Order!

Mr PISONI: —blocking questions about the tourism portfolio.

The CHAIR: Order! We only have two minutes left. If you want to make your point of order in the last two minutes, it is up to you. He is not going to talk about the Liberal Party, are you minister? Have you finished, minister?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I am quite happy to explain to the tourism industry that, in the seven questions that were asked, there was not a single question from the opposition about tourism and its importance to this state. Not one single question was asked by the opposition, the alternative government in this state, about tourism, and that just goes to show what I have seen in the 2½ years I have been in this role. They have no plan for tourism, they have no idea about tourism—

Mr PISONI: Point of order.

The CHAIR: Is there another question on my left? Is there another question?

Mr PISONI: You invited the opposition to ask a question and the minister took the floor.

The CHAIR: Is there another question on my left?

Mr PISONI: On the same point raised by the member for Schubert, are all reimbursements of cash expenditure or private credit cards also recorded on the purchase card summary of expenditure that is available publicly?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Look, that makes it eight from eight questions. And, yes, money that is reimbursed is publicly disclosed. As I have said before, you did not FOI the relevant piece of information you thought was not there, so you ran around and tried to speculate that there was something missing and that there was something wrong. You did not FOI it. That money was actually there in the disclosure report that we put online, as we do every month. I really hope that we see a better standard in the next section of estimates after having the opposition come here and ask eight out of eight questions with nothing to do with this vital—

Mr PISONI: Perhaps you could give the opposition some time to ask questions—

The CHAIR: Order!

Mr PISONI: —instead of filling it up with Dorothy Dixers.

The CHAIR: That's enough. Order, member for Unley! There being no further questions on this part of the budget, I declare the examination of the proposed payments for the South Australian Tourism Commission closed. The Minister for Tourism's section is completed. I thank his advisers for coming in.