Melbourne
Tourism in Melbourne is a significant industry in the state of Victoria, Australia.
The country’s second most-populous city, Melbourne was visited by 2.7 million international overnight visitors and 9.3 million domestic overnight visitors during the year ending December 2017.
Often lauded as Australia’s heart of culture, Melbourne’s attractions include sporting events, art galleries, live music, festivals and fashion events that are popular with tourists and locals alike.
Named the world’s most liveable city from 2011 to 2017, Melbourne’s culture and lifestyle have been increasingly promoted internationally, leading to average year-on-year growth of international visitors of 10% in the five years to 2017.
In its annual survey of readers, the Condé Nast Traveler magazine found that both Melbourne and Auckland were considered the world’s friendliest cities in 2014.
The magazine described the “wonderful sense of humour” of Melburnians, who live among public art and parks.
Other notable sites:
- Chinatown– the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World and third oldest Chinatown in the world, features numerous restaurants, museums and cultural attractions
- Eureka Skydeck– the highest viewing platform in the southern hemisphere, located in Eureka Tower
- Luna Park– an amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne. It has been operating since 1912
- Melbourne Aquarium– contains a variety of exhibits showcasing marine wildlife found in the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic
- Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre– built along Southbank in the 1990s as an update for the Royal Exhibition Building, it regularly hosts special conventions and exhibitions
- Melbourne Park– the home of the Australian Open tennis tournament, one of the four Grand Slams held every January
- Old Melbourne Gaol– built in the 19th century, housed dangerous criminals alongside petty offenders, the homeless and the mentally ill. Australia’s most infamous citizen, Ned Kelly, was hanged here and this is now a tourist site commemorating the life of those jailed
- Shrine of Remembrance on St Kilda Road– one of Australia’s largest war memorials and features annual observances of Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, as well as a tomb of the unknown soldier
- State Library of Victoria– Australia’s oldest library and one of the world’s first free libraries, famed for its large Domed Reading Room and front lawn
- Victorian Arts Centre– features a landmark spire, it hosts Opera Australia‘s Melbourne season, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Australian Ballet Company
