Blockbusters bring tourists who stay in hotels.

Andrew Barr has announced our taxpayer support of blockbuster exhibitions has brought people to town:

The Renaissance and Handwritten blockbuster exhibitions have contributed to an increase of more than 10 per cent in the number of Australians visiting Canberra.

Tourism Research Australia’s latest National Visitor Survey figures for the 12 months ending June 2012 show the ACT received 1.93 million domestic overnight visitors, up from 1.75 million the previous year.

The biggest gains in visitor numbers were in the first half of this calendar year, when both blockbuster exhibitions were held at the National Gallery of Australia and National Library of Australia.

Last month I jointly announced with the federal Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson, other recent findings about the positive correlation between blockbuster events and tourism, and this latest survey confirms those findings.

Here in The Eagle’s Nest we do wonder why the hotels which benefit from these visits can’t pay for these promotions themselves.