The NT's Major Events Corporation could soon be merged with the Tourism department, in a government bid to attract more visitors to the Territory. It wants large events like Bass in the Grass to attract and keep interstate visitors here for longer, while the organisers of smaller events say their priorities are different.
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00:00Celebrations of light, speed and sound, central to the Territory's pitch for more interstate
00:09and international arrivals.
00:12The Government exploring a merger between the publicly owned Major Events Corporation
00:16and the Ministry of Tourism.
00:18We want to make sure that we are the most competitive that we can be with the resources
00:22that we have and we'll keep looking at all of those options starting from now, right
00:28through until we think we can get it right.
00:30While there'll be no changes to this year's events calendar, the Government believes merging
00:35the two bodies would more efficiently drive tourist visitation.
00:39Major Events derives most of its $40 million budget from Government grants, but says its
00:44ticketed events last year generated $150 million for the wider Territory economy.
00:51But what of smaller events that cater mainly for local audiences?
00:55Since the 1980s, Darwin Fringe Festival has provided a platform for emerging Territory
01:00artists and relies on Major Events' sponsorship to develop young local talent.
01:06A lot of the artists we work with, it's probably their first or their second show, but we also
01:11do work with established artists who are keen to come and try something new.
01:15While the Fringe doesn't attract the masses like larger festivals do, organisers say their
01:21interstate audience is growing, as is local talent.
01:25The Northern Territory Major Events funding is massive to us because it lets us improve
01:29not only the quality of what we're offering to audiences, but also the quality of the
01:33experience for artists and what we can produce here in the Territory.
01:36Chasing the tourist dollar on the Territory stages.