World Routes Conference

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Can the minister update the council on the recent World Routes conference?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for the question and his ongoing interest in our tourism sector. World Routes is the world's largest aviation route development forum and the global meeting place for international airlines, airports and aviation stakeholders. It was held over 23,000 square metres of exhibition space at the Adelaide Showground. It was opened on Saturday 21 September and is concluding later today, before handing over the silver R that I collected in Guangzhou from the Guangzhou hosts to Milan for them to host it next year.

This is the first time World Routes has been held in Australasia and only the second time it has been held in the Southern Hemisphere. World Routes is the global meeting place for airlines, airports and aviation stakeholders, receiving up to 3,000 delegates with over 10,000 meetings taking place. It has an estimated economic impact of hosting the event in Adelaide of some $20 million injected into our economy.

It is a closed industry event but it made me particularly proud, when I was there with the federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. Simon Birmingham, and the Premier for the opening on Sunday, to look around the Adelaide Showground pavilion. It made us very proud to have a world-class event put together by a South Australian team.

The attendees were from 130 countries across the globe from as broad as Mexico, Tahiti, the Canary Islands, Norway and, of course, all the other big airports we have around the world, across Europe and the United States. There are more than 400 World Routes delegates who are also participating in familiarisation visits to our regions, including the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. This will further spread the economic benefit and the understanding of the tourism offering of South Australia to these influential decision-makers.

World Routes has given South Australia the opportunity to showcase what makes us so special. We already welcome 47 regular international flights to Adelaide each week, with both international and domestic seat numbers up since we came into government. Of course, during the summer China Southern will go to daily flights, so that figure goes well over 47—in fact, into the 50s.

By hosting World Routes, Adelaide has benefited from the exposure to key airline partners and a significant local spend from delegates, and has also demonstrated that Adelaide is capable of hosting large-scale international business events.