A Popular Tourist Destination
1. For the second year running, Melbourne was voted number two in the favourite overseas city category of the 2003 Guardian and Observer Travel Awards in the UK. Based on ratings by readers, Melbourne was given an overall score of 95.1%. (Source: www.mcvb.com.au)
2. In 2002, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Hotel Affordability Index found a room in one of London's hotels is more than twice as expensive as a room in Melbourne. (Source: www.mcvb.com.au)
3. Melbourne has over 19,000 accommodation rooms, 15,000 are centrally located; 4,300 5-star rooms; 6,000 4-star rooms; and 1,980 3-star rooms. (Source: www.mcvb.com.au)
4. Over 50% of business delegates coming to Melbourne plan to return to the city for a holiday within the next two years. (Source: Victoria University)
5. The gay.com website declared Melbourne the No. 2 place to visit on a list of top 10 international destinations because of the city's bars, theatres, cuisine, parks, skyline and gay-friendly attitude. (Source: www.amazingaustralia.com.au)
6. The Regional Victorian daytrip market to Melbourne is booming with daytrips to Melbourne from Victoria’s regions increasing by 21% on the year ended September 2002. (Source: www.destinationmelbourne.com.au)
7. Melbourne offers tourists and residents a Free City Circle Tourist Tram which continuously does a circuit of the Central Business District, taking passengers past a large number of Melbourne’s tourist attractions. (Source: www.newcomersnetwork.com)
8. More than 20 cruise ships come to Melbourne each season, with each visit estimated to be worth an average of $1 million to the local economy. (Source: Tourism Victoria)
9. Melbourne is home to Australia’s first Heritage-listed building: the Royal Exhibition Building and Gardens. The Sydney Opera House was listed on June 28, 2007. Melbourne’s eclectic architecture reflects the fascinating diversity of Australia's rich past. Government House is in the style known as Italianate and is one of the finest examples of this type of architecture in Australia. Completed in 1890, Labassa is a French Renaissance mansion significant for the relative completeness of its richly decorated and finely executed interiors. Three houses at Coventry Street are among the few 19th century prefabricated iron buildings remaining in the world. Rippon Lea is the last of Australia's great privately owned 19th century suburban estates. Designed and built 1868 in the Romanesque style, the mansion is surrounded by a beautifully maintained original Victorian pleasure garden which is of international significance. (Source: www.nattrust.com.au)
10. Melbourne’s Airport has recorded the highest passenger growth of any major Australian airport for the past five years. In relation to international flights, Melbourne Airport has enjoyed annual traffic growth of:
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