ANDREW Barr says “Canberra is certainly the place to be this summer” which will no doubt be news to the South Coast.

“A dedicated regional marketing and advertising campaign will leverage Canberra’s host city status for the AFC Asian Cup and Cricket World Cup and demonstrate the broad range of other experiences on offer in Canberra over the 2015 summer period,” Andrew says.

Events which Andrew says we should eschew the sea for include:

• Soccer: The AFC Asian Cup 2015 being held between 10 and 23 January, and fans will be able to watch seven matches at Canberra Stadium, including a quarter final.
• Cricket: The Carlton Mid One Day International on 19 November between Australia and South Africa kicks things off, followed by the Prime Minister’s XI v England on 14 January and the KFC T20 Big Bash League final on 28 January. For the first time ever in Canberra, three ICC Cricket World Cup matches will also be played during February and March.
• Art: In addition, the much anticipated summer blockbuster James Turrell: A Retrospective opens on 13 December at the National Gallery of Australia.
• War: Also opening in December, as part of the Australian War Memorial’s First World War centenary commemorations, is the redeveloped First World War Gallery.
• Festivals: The National Multicultural Festival, Australia Day celebrations and the return of ENLIGHTEN festival add to the sizzling summer events program.

Andrew saus VisitCanberra’s new destination campaign to encourage visitations between January and March, and support the 2020 Tourism Strategy, aims to grow the value of the ACT’s overnight visitor expenditure to $2.5 billion by 2020.