The latest figures released by Tourism Australia show a significant increase in food and wine expenditure by international visitors, hitting the campaign target for the Restaurant Australia campaign of which Wine Australia is a supporting partner. Since December 2013, Australia has seen a 12.6 per cent increase (an additional $531 million) in tourism dollars spent on food and wine. This increase means that one dollar in every five now spent by international visitors in Australia is on food and wine.
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said ‘We’re a proud partner of the Restaurant Australia campaign. The food and wine offering in Australia is truly world-class and it’s fantastic to see the success of this campaign converting to more tourism dollars for Australian wine.
‘We host a large number of international guests in Australian wine regions every year and they always comment on not just the quality of Australian wine but the warm hospitality of the people behind the wines and the quality of the food they’ve had throughout their visit.
‘Tourism Australia is an important partner for Wine Australia in sharing the stories of fine Australian wine across the world.’
Wine Australia has supported a number of events domestically and globally since the Restaurant Australia campaign launched in 2014 including:
• ‘Invite the World to Dinner’ gala event held in Hobart, attended by more than 80 high profile food and wine influencers from 16 countries and who were served more than 20 of Australia’s finest wines
• A series of pop-up Restaurant Australia dinners in the UK and Asia in 2014 and 2015 showcasing some of Australia’s best regionally focused food and wine
• Australian wine story contributions featured on the Restaurant Australia consumer website
• Restaurant Australia Grazing Lunch at the 2015 Vancouver International Wine Festival (VIWF) of which Australia was the host country; the consumer event sponsored by Tourism Australia featured all 55 Australian wineries who participated in VIWF
