South Australian Tourism Awards

Ms O'HANLON (Dunstan) (17:10): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister update the house on the South Australian Tourism Awards?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (17:10): Thank you very much, member for Dunstan. I am really excited to talk to you about the South Australian Tourism Awards. The nominations were going to close yesterday but they have been extended until the close of business tomorrow, and therefore we want to get those nominations in for the 2024 South Australian Tourism Awards, supported and conducted through the Tourism Industry Council South Australia.

Already, there are more than 100 nominations for the 27 categories, but there is a really important reason why we need more, and I am asking each and every one of you here in this house to go back to your electorates and make phone calls to those tourism operators, often small and family businesses, to consider nominating. The reason we want to do it is because, firstly, the South Australian winners go on to represent our state at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

The 2024 awards, which will be held in March 2025, mark a significant anniversary, and we are so thrilled because the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in March 2025 will be held here in Adelaide. These awards will mark the 40^th anniversary of these national awards, and they are going to be held on 21 March when our beautiful city is in full bloom. The city will be alive with the Fringe Festival in its final weekend and, of course, we will be welcoming people to go along to the exclusive Chihuly exhibition in the Botanic Gardens. It is the first time ever to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many times I talk about having the eyes of the nation on us with our fantastic events, and we want to make sure many South Australian tourism operators go home with gold. But you have to be in it to win it. I want each and every one of you to go out and encourage those people. Already we have seen that 32 per cent of nominees are entering for the very first time. Why are they entering? Because we are doing well, with more than $10 billion in the visitor economy.

We know that we have people's attention. We know that we are going to keep it with the new investment in our destination branding. We want to encourage as many people as possible to enter, but we want to give them support to do so. If people are state winners, they will be supported with a South Australian Tourism Commission marketing package.

They will feature in a travel blog following the 2024 awards, announcing winners and published on southaustralia.com. They will be included in social media posts announcing the South Australian Tourism Award winners, and they will be included in South Australian Tourism Commission proactive media pitches. This is our time to shine.

People are talking about us more than they have for a decade. People love to come here and we are seeing investment flow. People become tourists before they become residents. When we are hosting the national awards on its 40^th anniversary, this is the time to get that gold.