We
know that the Queen Victoria Market is a very important tourist attraction for
the city of Melbourne but one category of tourists is showing serious decline
and that has very serious implications.
More
than 40% of all international visitors to Australia come to Melbourne’s Queen
Victoria Market and that is a striking endorsement to our international appeal.
No wonder we have so many souvenir stalls here. They are serving strong demand.
But
it is the other group of tourists, the home-grown regional and interstate
tourists, that are in decline. Around 14% of country and interstate visitors to
Melbourne used to come to the Queen Victoria
Market. That is now down to around 6%. These are the football fans from
Perth, the rugby fans from Brisbane, the shoppers from Tasmania, and the day
trippers from Bendigo, Ballarat, and other regional centres.
Have Your Say - click here.
COMMENTS:
16/01/2018
10:50:05 Tourists "Greg were did the sample figures come
from how accurate are they//? I note that a trader[ souvenirs] did brisk trade
until 4 30.... he is a late trader and the people walking the sheds are only
after his product. Please respond. In regard to the first comment I feel that
the fall off might be due to natural attrition ie our product being offered
regionally please respond thanks."
The figures are from Tourism Victoria. I have
rounded them off but our marketing people should be able to give you exacts for
2017. The 6% came from our marketing staff. The late trader? – His customers
were definitely international and probably here for the tennis. They probably
were not aware of our trading hours. By “the first comment” do you mean the
drop in regionals and interstaters? If so, their access to more goods, locally
and online, may be one of the reasons for the drop off. Our marketing staff are looking at other things as well including the number of regionals who used to come by bus direct to the market, and now come by train or car. Thanks for your input.
- Ed
