House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Adelaide Festival Season Adelaide Festival Season Ms HOOD House of Assembly Adelaide Adelaide Festival Season Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister update the house on the projections of the upcoming festival season, including WOMADelaide? The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON House of Assembly Ramsay Minister for Tourism Minister for Multicultural Affairs Adelaide Festival Season The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:06): Thank you to the member for Adelaide for her support and interest in tourism and major events. WOMADelaide has been a huge drawcard for our state for more than 30 years. It's incredibly special for so many reasons. Of course, throughout COVID, WOMAD shifted to an all-Australian line-up due to the closure of our international borders. Now, with the world opened up again, the international acts are back and people are excited. WOMADelaide is experiencing record sales in the lead-up to the event with a forecast 40 per cent increase in attendances on the previous year. I am advised that the three and four-day passes, as well as Saturday tickets, are already sold out, with Friday and Sunday tickets not far behind. So get in quick if you are keen to go to WOMAD. This is the first time that WOMADelaide has been sold out since 2008. Back then the headliners were Toumani Diabata and his Symmetic Orchestra from Mali; the John Butler Trio from Australia, Susanna Baca from Peru and Taraf de Haidouks from Romania. This time, the line-up includes Mdou Moctar from Nigeria, Sampa the Great from Zambia and headliners Gratta Ciel from France and Florence and the Machine, who did not have South Australia on their national tour until they joined the WOMADelaide line-up. These ticket sales are reflected in our forward booking data. With still one month to go until WOMAD returns, hotel bookings for the weekend are incredibly strong and well up on the same time last year. Compared with one month out from last year's event, this year's WOMAD weekend is up 27 per cent on average as the same March weekend last year. Latest forward booking data shows Friday 10 March, 80 per cent; Saturday 11 March, 82 per cent; and Sunday 12 March, 74 per cent, compared with the same time out from last year's WOMAD of 52 per cent, 56 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. WOMADelaide is a huge tourism drawcard, enticing visitors from around the country and the world to celebrate here in South Australia at a cultural event like no other. In 2019, the economic impact of WOMADelaide was $18.3 million. Not only do visitors fill up our hotel rooms, but WOMAD regulars book a year in advance to our restaurants and our bars. They become increasingly difficult to book because they book them so far in advance. Of course, we love Mad March, but now we have a full calendar. This is what we've got to deliver. People are seeing South Australia in a new light. Their perceptions have changed, and they want a piece of it and they want to get here too. WOMADelaide is not the only international line-up: we've got the Fringe and the Festival as well. It's a key part of who we are—our DNA. It's arts, it's culture, it's music and it's drama. People know that's who we are, and we can't wait to have them here. Our government knew this. That's why we put additional money into marketing and major events, and $10 million into the See it LIVE program. We also supported the Fringe, with another $2 million per year for four years. The WOMAD is particularly special in our line-up because 50 per cent of the people coming are from out of the state. People hop on a plane or drive here because they want to see this fantastic line-up of international guests. For more than 30 years, it's the place to be from 10 to 13 March.