Australian sports minister, Senator Kate Lundy, must be a glutton for punishment. She’s already had to pay a forfeit over her bet with UK sports minister Hugh Robertson about the results at the London Olympics. Now she’s signed up for further wagers with him over the forthcoming Ashes and the Lions’ tour.
It was all done in good humoured fashion, at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, which the minister was visiting as part of a week in Australia. Wherever he went, he received incredibly warm comments on the success of London 2012. In return, he was able to express gratitude for the many Australian contributions in London.
He visited Sydney’s Olympic Park, from the 2000 games, now a growing commercial and residential hub, to discuss Olympic legacy. He also met British and Australian firms who are capitalising on their London track record to win business on forthcoming major sports events, including Rio 2016.
One consequence of London’s glorious summer in the spotlight last year is a big increase in the number of people overseas who are considering a holiday in Britain. It looks particularly attractive to Australians whose strong dollar makes UK prices a steal.
Mr Robertson also has responsibility for tourism, and he was accompanied by the Chairman of Visit Britain, our national tourist agency. They saw good opportunities to further increase the number of Australian tourists coming to the UK. Australia is already our fourth largest market by spend, with nearly 1 million tourists spending over a billion pounds last year.
We also compete with Australia for tourists from Asia, including the rapidly growing Chinese market, and Mr Robertson was able to compare notes with Australian Tourism Minister Gary Gray.