CHRIS Bourke has greeted a delegation from Singapore’s Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay during their two-day visit to the Canberra Theatre Centre.

“The visit is the latest in a continued strengthening of ties between Canberra and Singapore in advance of the commencement of direct flights between the two cities from September,” Chris said.

“It was an honour to greet the delegates on behalf of the ACT Government.

“Like Canberra, Singapore has a thriving local arts scene as well as a desire to attract international artistic shows and events. There is undoubtedly much the two theatres can learn from each other through having closer ties.

“The Singaporean delegates have been in Canberra for two days as part of an educational and cultural exchange. The two organisations have been discussing how best to present productions to their local communities, as well as exploring opportunities for diversifying the program to include more Asian content.

“The exchange also included discussions around hospitality services, marketing, tourism and partnership models with entertainment promoters.

“Annually, productions presented at the Canberra Theatre Centre attract and average of 220,000 visitors, with figures from the last financial year showing live performances at the theatre contributed $4.2 million to restaurants in the surrounding cultural district.

“Singapore will be a gateway directly to Canberra for Asian tourists, so it stands to reason Canberra Theatre will be attracting more Asian theatregoers moving forward,” Dr Bourke said.

“It’s a wonderful artistic and economic opportunity for Canberra and one I’m sure our local theatre will be seeking to grow and capitalise on throughout 2016 and beyond.”

[Photo by Leong Him Woh, attribution licence.]