As a prosperous city, Melbourne will be a great place to visit. We will welcome all international and domestic leisure, business and student visitors. We will be dynamic, engaging, accessible and welcoming. As a great place to visit, we will offer diverse experiences that are easy to find and fun, encourage participation and help people to connect.
Future Melbourne 2008

Overview

The discussions in this Priority were with regard to welcoming more people to visit the city providing enjoyable experiences. While some people described Melbourne as a place to experience for what it intrinsically offers, such as architecture, arts, sport and fine food, others thought there is a need to enhance what Melbourne’s tourism offering with any one of a number of suggestions for tourism related attractions.

Other suggestions were to make Melbourne easier and cheaper to navigate for tourists.

Some suggestions were more holistic in nature, for example being more welcoming to international students.

There was overlap between this Priority and Priority 3.2. A Stimulating and Safe 24-hour city, Priority 3.5. An Events City and Priority 6.1. Effective and Integrated Public Transport.

Summary of ideas (total 69 statements)

Activities and attractions (39 statements)

The points made in this section discussed what Melbourne has to offer, or could offer, visitors to the city.

Many comments described with pride Melbourne’s current tourism offering, with many listing things such as stone architecture, arts, theatre, sport, food, fashion, fun, shows, music, street art and visual arts. This was one summary.

Architecture, Fashion, art, food, sustainability, knowledge, parks & bicycles and the best coffee in the world. That's Melbourne and people will come for those things to live, invest and visit.

One comment was critical of what Melbourne offers visitors though, and stated that there is a need to have a literal postcard attraction that can represent Melbourne, without having to be named in words; something that people will recognise Melbourne for. While many others didn’t begin their ideas with the same sentiment, they did suggest new attractions that Melbourne could develop.

A few people suggested a large movie-theme park, with Docklands identified as the location. Some stated in conversations that Docklands would benefit from this type of initiative. Another tourism attraction for Docklands was eclectic Barcelona-style architecture, rather than the box-shaped glass status quo.

A couple of people discussed the interest that tourists show in graffiti, with Hosier Lane identified as a good example.

Never thought I'd be agreeing with your comment, but walking around Hosier Lane yesterday and seeing the number of tourists taking photos and hanging out there, made me look at it a bit differently. There is certainly a place for it - and brightens up what would otherwise be a very dull laneway.

Places discussed (additional to Docklands) were to continue to develop St Kilda as a tourism area and a suggestion to develop the ‘Paris end’ of Collins St as a pedestrianised area similar to the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Cultural suggestions included a Cultural Hub of Australia’s first people, an Australian-focused theatre, a MONA Museum of Modern Art, transport museum and a monument to Ross Hannaford (further discussed in Priority 2.2. under busking). This was one idea.

First Nations Cultural Hub -- Establish an arts and cultural centre celebrating and promoting Australia’s first nations, particularly language and culture, incorporating educational opportunities for visitors and locals to learn the traditional stories of the land as well as to recognise the ongoing evolution of cultural and creative traditions.

Entertainment attractions included a high line, virtual tram ride, big miniature world and a water fountain show similar to Dubai.

Detailed ideas suggested moving the Star Observation wheel, probably to Docklands but some conversations provided alternative locations. Although one counter-comment on this topic thought it would detract from the Yarra.

Creating a man-made bay island was also suggested. However, a conversation comment questioned if it is a good idea to build an island when sea level rise needs to be considered.

Other suggestions were for a zoo, a farm-themed experience and a princess castle.

Being more welcoming to a broad range of people (17 statements)

There was a range of comments covering being more welcoming towards more people who visit and experience the city.

Several statements referred to being more welcoming to international students, with one suggestion to celebrate them in a festival. More pragmatic suggestions were to make transport free to the universities and another idea was to reduce public transport costs to this group; a health concession card was also proposed. Medical aid was also suggested for all visitors.

The Deaf-blind community stated that there should be more accessible online tourism information available for their community to access.

Awareness of Deaf and Blind ppls needs -- Awareness of others around them. Do we need an advertising campaign to highlight needs and let people know what to do? Not enough internet/ website to access the tourism information. Make sure it’s accessible for reading.

Other comments were that the city should not close at 5:00pm to everything but bars, restaurants and entertainment. Others commented that through being more sustainable the city would attract more people.

Transport and wayfinding (13 Statements)

A theme that emerged in the discussions on tourism was making travel in Melbourne easier and cheaper for tourists. The most discussed topic was making MYKI cards cheaper; with one idea proposing to make it refundable, similar to London’s Oyster Card. This idea was mentioned in a couple of conversation comments; one stated that the cost and lack of refund deterred their family from visiting, and another comment suggested that this could be solved with a phone app to support travel around the city. Other points made were that MYKI is too difficult for tourists to identify and understand. This was a solution provided for MYKI issues.

There is already a free tram zone in the city to cater for tourists. Hopefully in the future the card will be optional, and commuters can use their phones for access to the PT system. No refunds for cards will then be necessary.

Wayfinding around the city was another topic discussed by a few people. One thought that Melbourne’s grid system is obvious to locals, but suggested maps on corners could assist visitors. Another suggested renaming roads as avenues and streets (also discussed under Priority 1.4) to assist tourists’ orientation around the city. A themed, augmented-reality technology experience was also an idea that was described in detail.

Other suggestions were for free and better transport, and that tourists should be encouraged to get out of the CBD because there is more to Melbourne than just this area