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TOURISM, CULTURE AND RECREATION


TOURIST ACCOMMODATION

The data presented here refer to hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms and units.

In the December quarter 2005, there were 58 hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), up two establishments from the December quarter 2004. Of the 58 accommodation establishments offering in 2005, 15 were licensed hotels, 26 were motels and guest houses, and 17 were serviced apartments. A total of 2,379 people were employed by these establishments.

Occupancy

Accommodation establishments in the ACT had a room occupancy rate of 69% in the year ended December 2005, which was comparable to the rate in 2004 (67%). Nationally, the room occupancy rate in the year ended December 2005 was 63%.

Average length of stay

In the year ended December 2005, guests in hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments in the ACT stayed 2.4 days on average, comparable with the 2.2 days on average recorded in 2004. Nationally, the average length of stay in the year ended December 2005 was 2.3 days.

Average lengths of stay for each type of accommodation establishment in the ACT in the December quarter 2005 were:

• serviced apartments - 3.4 days;
• licensed hotels - 2.3 days; and
• motels and guest houses - 2.3 days.

Takings

In the ACT, takings from total hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments was $152.4m in the year ended December 2005, up 8% from 2004 ($140.7m).

Nationally, accommodation takings in the year ended December 2005 was $6,189.5m, an increase of 9% from 2004 ($5,674.8m).

Average takings per room night occupied

The average takings per room night occupied in the ACT for the December quarter 2005 was $120.80, up 4% from the December quarter 2004 ($115.70).

13.1 AVERAGE TAKINGS PER ROOM NIGHT OCCUPIED, ACT

Libraries ($14.1m) and nature parks and reserves ($13.4m) were the highest funded heritage facilities in the ACT in 2003-04. Administration of culture ($2.7m) and performing arts venues ($2.7m) were the highest funded arts categories.

13.2 STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT CULTURAL FUNDING(a), By state and territory - 2003-04
			NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
			$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Heritage
	Art museums		50.0	54.2	26.3	6.3	10.9	0.4	7.3	4.4	159.9
	Other museums		150.3	71.9	23.7	15.4	38.4	10.7	12.6	1.8	324.8
	Nature parks and reserves		338.4	131.8	258.3	60.9	97.6	27.7	54.9	13.4	983.0
	Zoological parks, aquaria and botanic gardens
		Zoological parks and aquaria	24.8	13.7	-	3.9	8.6	-	-	-	50.9
		Botanic gardens	35.9	10.8	-	9.6	14.5	2.4	2.5	-	75.7
	Total		60.6	24.5	-	13.5	23.1	2.4	2.5	-	126.6
Libraries and Archives
	Libraries		87.3	73.1	49.4	32.0	29.9	16.4	10.3	14.1	312.4
	Archives		16.3	7.1	5.8	9.2	1.7	1.6	2.9	0.2	44.7
	Total		103.6	80.2	55.2	41.2	31.6	18.0	13.1	14.3	357.1
Total heritage			703.0	362.6	363.6	137.2	201.6	59.1	90.5	34.0	1 951.4
Arts
	Literature and print media		1.1	0.7	0.5	0.6	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.2	4.5
	Performing arts
		Music	7.7	4.5	1.3	3.9	4.0	0.9	0.5	1.9	24.6
		Drama	7.8	3.1	5.1	4.3	2.9	0.4	0.3	0.7	24.6
		Dance	2.2	1.7	2.5	1.4	2.4	0.3	0.2	0.4	11.2
		Music theatre and opera	6.1	0.8	4.0	1.8	1.3	0.1	-	0.1	14.2
	Other performing arts		0.8	0.8	0.7	2.3	0.1	0.1	0.4	-	5.2
	Total		24.6	10.8	13.6	13.7	10.7	1.9	1.3	3.1	79.8
Performing arts venues			89.1	15.2	8.8	8.3	15.2	0.1	5.2	2.7	144.5
Visual arts and crafts			3.8	3.8	2.3	1.9	1.9	0.4	0.8	1.8	16.7
Broadcasting and film
	Radio and television services		-	-	-	0.1	0.1	-	-	0.1	0.3
	Film and video		10.1	28.7	9.7	5.5	7.6	0.2	0.1	0.2	61.9
	Multimedia		0.1	0.1	0.1	-	0.3	-	-	0.1	0.7
	Total		10.2	28.8	9.7	5.6	8.0	0.2	0.1	0.3	63.0
Community cultural centres and activities			2.1	2.3	2.1	0.5	4.3	0.1	0.6	0.7	12.7
Administration of culture			8.4	6.5	5.2	2.3	14.7	1.4	-	2.7	41.2
Other arts n.e.c.
	Arts education		-	0.2	-	0.1	0.1	-	-	-	0.5
	Major multi-arts festivals		7.4	6.7	-	4.0	4.5	0.8	0.4	-	23.9
	Other arts n.e.c.		8.3	2.4	0.2	7.0	0.3	-	-	-	18.2
	Total		15.7	9.3	0.2	11.1	4.9	0.8	0.4	-	42.5
Total arts			154.9	77.4	42.4	44.0	60.7	5.2	8.6	11.5	404.8
Total			857.8	440.0	406.0	181.2	262.3	64.3	99.1	45.5	2 356.2
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Care should be taken when comparing categories between states and territories for some categories of funding as the funding provided by state and territory governments may vary according to the administrative arrangements existing in the respective states and territories.
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2003-04, (cat. no. 4183.0).

State and territory funding per person

In 2003-04, the national level of cultural funding per person by state and territory governments was $118. This level was exceeded in the ACT where the territory government provided funding of $141 per person - surpassed only by the Northern Territory (NT) Government with relatively large funding of $498 per person. The lowest level of cultural funding by a state or territory government was provided by the Victorian Government with $89 per person.

13.3 CULTURAL FUNDING PER PERSON, By state and territory governments - 2003-04

In April 2004, the participation rate of persons with involvement (either playing or non-playing) in the ACT is 32%. This proportion is commensurate with the NT (32%) as the highest of the states and territories, and is higher than the national participation rate (27%).

13.4 PERSONS INVOLVED IN ORGANISED SPORT OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY(a), By state and territory

FLORIADE

Floriade is the ACT's annual festival of flowers. This event is complimented by a variety of entertainment and community activities throughout Canberra. The festival runs for approximately one month from mid-September to mid-October each year, and the floral displays are in Commonwealth Park.

Data was collected by the Australian Capital Tourism Corporation through spectator surveys at the event.

In 2005 the festival ran from 17 September to 16 October, the theme was Rock 'n' roll in bloom, and the 12 showcase gardens displays comprised 1.47 million blooms. The displays covered over four hectares.

The community's involvement increased from previous years with over 220 people donating their time and services to the event. This equated to over 5,400 hours. A record 55 community groups performed at this year's Floriade.

Total attendance for Floriade 2005 was 356,676 people, a 5% increase from total visitors in 2004. Forty-seven percent of these were from the ACT, 51% were interstate visitors and 2% were international visitors to the region. Overall there was a 27% increase in interstate and international attendees compared to last year's event. Of the interstate visitors 62% stayed overnight and 38% visited Floriade on a day trip.

13.5 ORIGIN OF FLORIADE ATTENDEES - 2004 and 2005

13.6 FLORIADE 2005, Estimated Expenditure by Visitors
	Total Expenditure	Total Expenditure
	($000)	%
Accommodation	9 666	47
Meals/food and drinks	4 235	21
Transport within the ACT	1 411	7
Plants/garden equipment/merchandise	1 134	5
Other expenses	4 104	20
Total expenditure by visitors	20 550	100
Source: Australian Capital Tourism Corporation, Floriade, 2005 Event Report.

RALLY OF CANBERRA

The 2005 Rally of Canberra was the opening round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, and was held on 23 and 24 April 2005. The event attracted 48 teams, comprising 10 international, 30 interstate and 8 ACT based teams. The rally was conducted over various closed public forest roads in and around Canberra.

Data was collected through spectator surveys and ticket sales for the event by the Australian Capital Tourism Corporation.

13.7 RALLY OF CANBERRA, Attendance by spectator origin - 2005

The ACT Government estimated that visitors who attended the rally spent $964,000 in the ACT. This figure included competitors, support staff and media. The length of stay varied depending on purpose of stay. Interstate spectators and the media averaged a two night stay, while competitors and support staff averaged a six night stay.

Accommodation (40%) and meals/food and drinks (25%) were the highest areas of expenditure for visitors staying in the ACT one night or more.

13.8 RALLY OF CANBERRA 2005, Estimated expenditure by visitors
	Total Expenditure	Total Expenditure
	($)	%
Accommodation	70 101	40
Meals/food and drinks	43 310	25
Tickets for event	21 554	12
Transport within the ACT	19 576	11
Rally merchandise	9 525	5
Other expenses	12 756	7
Total expenditure by overnight visitors	176 882	100
Source: Australian Capital Tourism Corporation, 2005 Rally of Canberra, Economic Impact Assessment and Event Evaluation, May 2005.

Day trippers spent an estimated $12,680 in the ACT. The majority of this expenditure related to meal/food and drinks at the event (31%) and tickets for the event (30%).

SUMMERNATS

The Summernats festival is a four day car show and exhibition event held in January of each year in the ACT. Data were collected through spectator surveys and ticket sales for the event by Street Machine Services.

The first event was held at Exhibition Park in Canberra in 1988, with approximately 47,000 spectators and over 900 vehicle entrants. Attendance at the event has fluctuated over the last seven years. In 2006, the festival attracted almost 98,000 spectators and 1,500 entrants.

13.9 SUMMERNATS ATTENDANCE IN THE ACT
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Spectators	112 486	113 527	93 702	107 471	116 056	118 921	97 798
Entrants	1 700	1 700	1 400	1 430	1 589	1 483	1 473
Source: Summernats Car Festival Office, 2006, Data available on request.

The highest proportion of interstate spectators to the festival in 2006 were New South Wales (NSW) residents, making up 30% of total spectators. This was followed by Western Australia (18%), Victoria and Queensland (14% respectively).

13.10 SUMMERNATS SPECTATORS, By state or territory of residence - 2006

13.11 SUMMERNATS ENTRANTS, By state or territory - 2006

Summernats incorporates a trade show within the festival, which had approximately 256 commercial exhibitors in 2006. The majority of items sold by exhibitors were car parts, clothing and apparel, collectibles, food, event merchandise and vehicle stickers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


ABS

Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2003-04, cat. no. 4183.0.

Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia, April 2004, cat. no. 6285.0.

Tourist Accommodation, Australia, December 2005, cat. no. 8635.0, Time Series Spreadsheets.

NON-ABS

Australian Capital Tourism Corporation, Floriade, 2005 Event Report, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.tams.act.gov.au/play/tourism>.

Australian Capital Tourism Corporation, 2005 Rally of Canberra, Economic Impact Assessment and Event Evaluation, May 2005, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.tams.act.gov.au/play/tourism>.

Summernats Car Festival Office, 2006, Data available on request.