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With a report from KPMG showing every $1 spent through Visit Victoria’s marketing activities translates to a return of $27 in tourism spending, the state government has announced new partnerships with Accor, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Alpine Resorts Victoria to support the $40 billion visitor economy.
These deals will promote Melbourne and regional Victoria to key global markets through joint marketing campaigns, including advertising, social media, roadshows and special promotions.
The agreements, funded through the state government's $7 million Visit Victoria Industry Partnerships Program (VVIPP), see industry partners match government investment dollar-for-dollar.
The new model was developed with the Victorian Tourism Industry Council and is aimed at delivering stronger collaboration between government and industry to grow tourism and support local jobs.
Tourism destinations and experiences to be highlighted in the campaigns include the Twelve Apostles, Sovereign Hill, Puffing Billy Railway, the Grampians National Park and Wilsons Promontory.
The new partnerships follow the recently announced Delta Air Lines direct flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne, secured through Visit Victoria’s partnership with Melbourne Airport, which will add 86,000 seats per year.
A typical daily international service contributes $109.1 million in value added to Victoria, with associated employment of 1,026 full time equivalent jobs.
Partners were selected through two streams of the program, including one where Visit Victoria worked directly with major partners in priority markets to drive interstate and international visitation, and a second stream where any industry participants could apply for a partnership to grow local visitation.
According to the latest data from Tourism Research Australia, international visitor spend in Victoria reached a new record high of $9 billion in 2024, reinforcing the value of investing in global marketing partnerships.
"It’s no wonder people are flocking to Victoria to work, stay or play – we're the major events capital, the sporting capital, the live music capital and the food and wine capital of Australia," says Victoria's Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos.
"Visit Victoria is proud to continue to work closely with our industry partners – proving the economic power of working together to grow our state's market share and showcasing to visitors how Victoria is ‘Every bit different’,” adds Visit Victoria CEO Brendan McClements.
Alpine Resorts Victoria CEO Amber Gardner is confident the campaign will boost snow season visitation, growing the significant contribution the resorts make to the visitor economy.
"We’re thrilled to be working with Visit Victoria through this program to showcase our unique nature-based tourism destinations through large-scale advertising to reach thousands more potential visitors," Gardner says.
Victorian Tourism Industry Council CEO Felicia Mariani describes the industry partnerships program as "overwhelmingly successful" since it opened in February, demonstrating "a clear appetite from industry to continue a program like this in the future".
"VTIC is incredibly proud of our efforts to advocate for this important program," Mariani says.
"These cooperative partnerships are powerful examples of what can be achieved when work together to grow our visitor economy and strengthen Victoria’s global connections."
However, on Friday the VTIC expressed disappointment at the FY26 state budget with no recovery of the $26 million reduction in funding in FY25 for marketing Victoria to Australia and the world, with just $6 million allocated for the purpose.
"This budget confirms that, over this year and next year, marketing efforts to promote Victoria around the world will have seen a $52 million reduction in funding," Mariani said.
"This is difficult to rationalise when you consider that Victoria’s visitor economy is projected to grow to nearly $55 billion by 2030 and we already employ nearly 290,000 people in our sector, with more than half of those in regional Victoria.
"We are a net-positive investment when you acknowledge that we deliver immediate return-on-investment by driving visitors to the state who have already injected $40 billion into our economy. More importantly, you don’t need to wait five years in building complex infrastructure before the state sees any return."
The council welcomed the $4.1 billion to commence work on the Sunshine Station Superhub, a first step to realising the Melbourne Airport Rail Link; $7.5 million over two years to support Melbourne Convention Bureau, Business Events Victoria, and a business events bid fund; and $475 million to support the operations and programming of our creative agencies in the state, including the National Gallery of Victoria, Museums Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne and the Geelong Arts Centre.
"The budget also provides $150 million over four years to support a Victorian Investment Fund to establish a consolidated resource to attract domestic and international investment that will create jobs, support innovation, and underpin Victoria’s vision for long-term economic growth," Mariani said.
"VTIC looks forward to learning the details of this fund to understand how investors in tourism infrastructure and experiences can benefit from this important support mechanism.
"While the industry will be disappointed with the lack of investment in destination marketing yet again, we will look forward to engaging with Government outside of the budget process to consider alternate models for collaborative investment that can drive a better outcome for the industry and allows us to successfully promote our incredible destination on the global stage."
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