Brisbane Marketing receives $72,000 tourism grant - 13 January 2010

Brisbane Marketing will receive a special funding grant of $72,000 to prepare a feasibility study and action plan for the North Ipswich Railway Workshops precinct and implement a plan for developing new tourism product in the Greater Brisbane Region, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.

Mr Lawlor said the grant, part of $1 million in Queensland Government funding allocated to the state's 14 regional tourism organisations, would help Brisbane Marketing enhance the region's tourism credentials and help entice higher visitor numbers.

"These funds will allow Brisbane Marketing to conduct in-depth feasibility studies for further development of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops precinct and help identify what further tourism product is needed for the region," Mr Lawlor said.

"Brisbane already has some fantastic tourism product but both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by looking for new opportunities and better ways of do ing things."

Mr Lawlor said in the year to September 2009, 913,000 international and 4.7 million domestic visitors spent time in Brisbane.

"These visitors spent $3.79 billion in Brisbane, making tourism one of the key economic drivers for the region," he said.

"The $1 million in grant funding is a State Government commitment to fund tourism development initiatives regional tourism organisations would otherwise be unable to undertake.

"Regional tourism organisations across the state will use their allocations for a range of projects from new product feasibility studies to industry education programs."

Mr Lawlor said the funding was part of the State Government's new Tourism Action Plan to 2012.

"Competition for the tourist dollar is increasingly fierce and it's important for destinations to constantly look at ways to improve their visitor experience - be it investigating new product opportunities, increasing customer service lev els or providing business advice and support to operators," he said.

"I was pleased to see so many high-quality submissions and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition."

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Source: www.tq.com.au

Brisbane hosts two international shows in fashion coup

Premier and Arts Minister Anna Bligh has announced a second international fashion exhibition, direct from London's Victoria & Albert Museum, will show at Queensland Art Gallery in March 2010.

The Premier said Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones, Saturday 27 March to Sunday 27 June, will be followed by the fashion blockbuster, Valentino, Retrospective - Past/Present/Future at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Saturday 7 August to Sunday 7 November.

"Women and fashion lovers from all over the country will be heading to Brisbane for these two very special exhibitions," Ms Bligh said.

"Hats draws on the collections of London's Victoria & Albert Museum, renowned for its fine holdings of art and design.

”The exhibition has been developed in collaboration with one of the world’s foremost milliners, Stephen Jones, who will be in Brisbane for the launch.”

Hats will feature more than 250 works, from early pieces such as a 12th century Egyptian fez and a 17th century Doge's hat, to designs created for some of the world's great fashion houses, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood and Christian Dior.

The Valentino exhibition of 100 garments traces Valentino Garavani's career from the 1959 opening of his Rome fashion house to the present. Valentino himself will be in Brisbane for the launch of the stunning exhibition, which has been designed and realised by Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, with the assistance of the Valentino fashion house.

Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said the Gallery was pleased to show these important fashion exhibitions.

"Valentino, Retrospective - Past/Present/Future will be complemented by an exhibition for children, featuring work drawn from the Gallery collection, which will explore the relationship between fashion and art," Mr Ellwood said.


Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and Queensland Art Gallery (QAG)
Stanley Place
South Bank
p: 07 3840 7303
w: www.qag.qld.gov.au

For accommodation See HERE

Brisbane Shines in Asian Cities of the Future study

Brisbane’s foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy is ranked second in the Asia Pacific region, according to the Financial Times fDi Magazine, the world’s pre-eminent business and globalisation title.

The fDi Magazine released the ‘Asian Cities of the Future 2009/10’ study in its December / January edition, ranking the economic, business and financial strengths of 133 cities across the Asia Pacific region.

Brisbane’s second ranking in the ‘Best FDI Strategy’ category follows Hong Kong in lead position, a city that has more than five million residents than Brisbane and 26 investment offshore offices. Brisbane was also ranked tenth in the overall ‘Top 10 Asian Cities of the Future’, making it the first time the city has been ranked in the study.

Brisbane Marketing’s Investment Attraction division leads the FDI strategy for Brisbane in conjunction with Brisbane City Council, and managed the City’s submission for the study.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Brisbane’s second place ranking reflected the fact Brisbane was now seen as a world-class destination for business and investment.

“Businesses are attracted by Brisbane’s highly skilled and creative workforce, consistently strong economic performance, high population growth and our relaxed lifestyle,” Cr Newman said.

“Brisbane’s diverse economy has benefited strongly from BCC’s 8-strong Sister City relationships which have netted us millions of dollars in overseas business and the foreign investment activities undertaken by Brisbane Marketing, such as our work with Seattle and Spanish cities.”

Brisbane Marketing’s Investment Attraction division is charged with attracting inward investment and managed Brisbane’s submission for the ‘Asian Cities of the Future 2009-10’ study.

Investment Attraction Director, Daniel Havas said the agency is continually refining its FDI strategy to help Brisbane capture investment opportunities within a rapidly changing economic landscape.

“Brisbane’s ranking in this study is a tremendous result given the size of our city compared with others in the top ten,” Mr Havas said.

“This is also a great example of how robust Brisbane’s FDI strategy is, especially when many of the top ten cities in the list have investment offices around the world.

“Brisbane Marketing has sharpened its FDI focus in the Asia Pacific on areas such as life sciences, clean energy, food and beverage and information communication technology. These sectors are expected to expand dramatically as Asia’s rising middle class will stimulate further demand,” Mr Havas said.

Australian cities Melbourne and Perth were also ranked in the FDI category, taking fourth and eighth place respectively.

The study was published in the fDi December/January edition and will be distributed at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January.

(Source: brisEnews: Issue 68 )

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