DANDENONG MP John Pandazopoulos has hit back after the Opposition this week claimed Victorian tourism was on the decline.
Mr Pandazopoulos, the state’s tourism minister, this week said figures used by Liberal Party Opposition tourism spokesman Martin Dixon were deliberately misleading.
Mr Dixon said Victorian tourism had dropped by 43,000 international visitors per year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures recording in which state tourists spent the majority of their holiday time.
But Mr Pandazopoulos said figures used by Mr Dixon were inaccurate because they did not measure all states international tourists had visited, nor the number of nights spent in each state.
“It under-represents and understates the number of visitors,” he said.
“The reality is Victoria had 1.3 million international visitors, up 2 per cent (on previous figures).”
“You have got to compare apples with apples, but (Dixon) is comparing apples with bananas and he is running the risk of damaging and undermining the tourism industry.”
Mr Pandazopoulos said the State Government was more concerned with tourism revenue rather than the number of tourists.
“You can get a lot who visit and spend a little, or a little who visit and spend a lot.
“What we are chasing is the yield, we want to chase out the higher spending customers.”
Mr Pandazopoulos said in addition to the 1.3 million international visitors, the number of nights spent in Victoria by the tourists had increased by 18 per cent, higher than the 10 per cent national average from September 2004 to September 2005.
– Shaun Inguanzo
