Visit Victoria pushing to bring more US sports and major theatre productions to Melbourne

THE Sunday Herald Sun recently revealed a series of new major events that will pack the state’s enviable sporting calendar and position Melbourne as a global player, but there’s more to come.

A NEW international cycling event and a push to bring more US sports and major theatre productions to Melbourne headline a proud new era for Victoria’s major event industry.

The Sunday Herald Sun has recently revealed a series of new major events that will pack the state’s enviable sporting calendar and position Melbourne as a global player.

They include a basketball clash between Australia and Team USA next year, the biggest WWE event in Aussie history at the MCG in October, and today’s announcement of Six Day Series cycling.

But two years after taking over the state’s tourism and major event strategy, Visit Victoria is pushing for even more.

Senior executives recently flew to New York and London where they met top executives from major sporting codes and international theatre producers.

Top Team USA players will be in Melbourne to play the Boomers. Picture: Getty

Supllied images of WWE Superstars Rhonda Rousey v Triple. Photo Credit 2018 WWE, Inc

Major League Baseball, ice hockey, NFL and NBA matches are on the shopping list for Melbourne as Victoria pushes to challenge global cities such as New York and London as an event powerhouse.

Victoria is also in the mix for Australia’s likely bid for the 2023 Women’s World Cup with the potential to play matches in Melbourne and Geelong if Football Federation Australia lands
the tournament.

New figures reveal dramatic growth in Victoria’s tourism industry, with visits from interstate and overseas tourists at an all-time high.

Visitor expenditure grew more than 29 per cent or $6 billion to $26.4 billion between December 2014 and last December.

National Visitor Survey results released during the week show 24 million domestic overnight trips were made to Victoria in the year ending March 2018, up 6.6 per cent.

And $13.6 billion in domestic overnight spending came to Victoria in the same period, up 7.5 per cent.

When Visit Victoria took over from the former Victorian Major Events Company and Tourism Victoria in 2016, doomsayers said the state’s hard-earned events calendar was in jeopardy.

Instead, it has been expanded.

Melbourne was picked as the first city outside Europe to host an annual leg of Six Day Series cycling. Picture: Supplied

Visit Victoria chief executive Peter Bingeman said a new approach had been taken to how the state went about the business of major events and tourism in the past two years. Picture: AFP

No major events have left the state, and the likes of a Brazil-Argentina soccer blockbuster, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre show and regular State of Origin rugby league action have been added.

Tourism and Major Events Minister John Eren said Visit Victoria was kicking goals for the economy and securing big events.

“In a diverse economy, the importance of the tourism and major events sector for Victoria cannot be underestimated — that’s why the Victorian government created Visit Victoria,’’ he said.

“It’s been a wonderful investment that has kept visitors coming to Victoria and supported local businesses and communities right across Victoria.”

The fact Melbourne was picked as the first city outside Europe to host an annual leg of Six Day Series cycling, bringing some of the world’s best riders to Victoria, is proof of our major event prowess.

Melbourne was recently awarded Best Major Events Strategy at the 2018 Ultimate Sports City Awards in Bangkok, the only Australian city honoured.

Major events continue to boost Victoria’s reputation as the events capital of Australia. Picture: Michael Klein

Melbourne was recently awarded Best Major Events Strategy at the 2018 Ultimate Sports City Awards in Bangkok, the only Australian city honoured. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Major events continue to boost Victoria’s reputation as the events capital of Australia, with about 23 million people attending gigs in the state between 2016 and 2017.

Tens of thousands of “cultural tourists’’ will visit Melbourne for the current MoMA exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, adding to the 68.3 million “visitor nights’’ reported in latest figures.

More will come when the T20 World Cup descends on Melbourne with men’s and women’s finals at the MCG in 2020 and award-winning musical Come From Away to debut next July.

A recent announcement that an inaugural Melbourne Esports Open will bring a whole new demographic of tourists to Melbourne.

And the state’s sports and cultural calendar is fast filling up around its Australian Open tennis, Australian Formula One Grand Prix, spring racing and summer of cricket pillars.

Major League Baseball, ice hockey, NFL and NBA matches are on the shopping list for Melbourne. Picture: Getty

Visit Victoria chief executive Peter Bingeman said a new approach had been taken to how the state went about the business of major events and tourism in the past two years.

“Alongside our industry and government partners, we have formed a long-term strategy to grow Victoria’s visitor economy and ensure a sustainable and competitive tourism industry,’’ he said.

In another win for Victoria’s event reputation, industry experts believe a state government target of $36.5 billion in visitor spending and 320,000 jobs by 2025 could be surpassed.

Visit Victoria chair Paul Little said recent success exceeded expectations “with visitors coming to Victoria in droves, staying longer and spending more while
they’re here”.

In the past two years, more than 60 major events have been staged in Melbourne, compared with 28 over a similar period through the former Victorian Major Events Company.

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