Calling all Southbankers

Do you know how highly Melbourne ranks in awareness and appeal around the globe?

This year’s Australian Open was the highest attended yet, and with a massive worldwide television audience. Love it or hate it, next month’s Grand Prix will also project stunning images of our city into the homes of millions of people around the world.

Compared to even 10 years ago, the international profile of Melbourne has lifted enormously, and it is premium events that have achieved it. Thirty years ago this year, the fledgling Kennett government nominated major events as one of the key drivers to building the city’s economy, and successive governments have stuck with the formula.

This profile also helps to build the business events for Melbourne – and Southbank businesses are the major beneficiaries. Through the work of Visit Victoria and the Melbourne Convention Bureau, Melbourne is an aspirational place to visit for business or pleasure.

This month, Southbank plays host to 29 Masters of Tourism (Destination Management) students who hail from 12 countries. For the past decade Breda University in the Netherlands has selected Melbourne – and specifically Southbank – as a major case study for their students.

Many of the students are people already working in visitor management roles in very significant tourism countries, yet Melbourne has been chosen to study because of its profile and its special tourism ingredients of events, the arts, dining and sport.

These are factors that also happen to make the Melbourne lifestyle so enviable, and particularly so here in Southbank, where all those elements are at our fingertips.

However, there is still plenty to do to improve the Southbank residential experience and especially to make the tourism offering more aligned to what our locals want. In conjunction with the council, we are trying to bridge that “resident-tourist” experience gap, but we need your help to do it.

A council-funded and supported research project is under way to obtain more granular information about how locals use the area and what you want in your everyday experiences.

youryarra.melbourne is a highly interactive survey that will provide the business association and the council with that information.

Could you devote seven minutes of your time to tell us what you want and need? By doing so, you could also win one of 11 prizes, including a memorable three-hour dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Melbourne for two people. •

Take the survey: youryarra.melbourne