Victoria Spends $43 Million on Campaign to Attract Chinese Tourists and Students

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will spend $43 million on a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign to lure more tourists from China to Victoria.

This marks Allan’s third trip to the one-party communist nation and her first as Premier of Victoria.

Her visit comes just two weeks after former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews was photographed with Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Chinese Communist Party military parade.

The premier said she was launching the new tourism blitz to encourage “more Chinese people to visit Victoria.”

The Every Bit Different campaign will run across social media platforms and billboards in China, highlighting Victoria’s wildlife, culture, dining, sport, and events.

“China is our biggest international visitor market,” she said in Beijing on Sept. 15. “We want one in every five international visitors to Victoria to come from China … because more visitors means more jobs.”

She was joined in Shanghai by actor and singer Wu Chun to promote the campaign, posting photos of the launch on social media.

Tourism Push

The government said China was Victoria’s biggest international tourism market, with 411,000 visitors pouring $2.9 billion into the state in the year to March 2025.

Minister for Tourism Steve Dimopoulos talked up Victoria’s credentials in sport, the arts, and food.

“We’re the major events capital, the sporting capital, the live music capital, and the culinary capital of Australia, and we’re showcasing the best of Victoria to a massive audience in China,” he said.

Visit Victoria Chief Executive Officer Brendan McClements added, “This investment will have a profound impact on our visitor economy, because destination marketing builds awareness and creates demand for our hotels, restaurants, and small businesses across Victoria.”

Allan also opened Vic House in Shanghai, which showcases Victorian food, alcohol, and wellness products, including Bulla ice cream and Victoria Bitter beer.

Exchanging Students Between Victoria and China

While in Beijing, Premier Allan also met with the CCP Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng to sign a partnership agreement continuing student exchanges.

She said education was a key focus of her trip.

“Mandarin is the number one language taught in Victorian government schools,” Allan said on X.

In response to her post, Former DFAT Australia-China Council scholar Andrew Phelan said China was a  “surveillance and censorship” state.

Questions Raised About Allan’s Trip to The Communist Nation

Opposition leader Brad Battin, however, suggested Allan should broaden her interest to other nations.

“Victoria is struggling to get investment from anywhere in the world at the moment, so Jacinta Allan, I think, needs to go to more than China,” he told reporters.

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett also raised concerns about the cost of the trip and questioned Allan’s pledge to boost international student numbers, saying that was a federal responsibility.

“It is all about politics, not the interest of Victoria,” Kennett said in a post to X on Sept. 16.

Meanwhile, Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Taylor told 3AW the government risked repeating past controversies.

In response to questions about whether Allan’s trip could be asking for money to fund the Suburban Rail Loop, Taylor said, “Well, look, I don’t know.”

“But what I do know is that when Labor sends Victoria broke with more debt than New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania combined, then she’s got to go out with a begging bowl and look for money,” he said. 

“It’s inappropriate that we see a repeat of the Belt and Road fiasco.

“We’ve seen Dan Andrews being part of a photo with dictators from across the world at this Chinese Communist Party parade just a few weeks ago.

“There are real questions to be answered here, and I think Jacinta Allan should be answering them.”