The Great Ocean Road is the big attraction and will continue to be the hot spot for years to come, but it is by no means the sole attraction for south-west Victoria.

Australia’s great strengths as far as Asian markets are concerned are its swimming beaches, its spectacular scenery and its world-class beauty and natural environments.

South-west Victoria has all of those.

In surveys carried out in Asia, Australia also ticks the box because it is safe and secure, family-friendly and also a romantic destination.

Again, our region can hold its head up high in this regard.

Where the opportunity lies for Australia, according to those same surveys, is in areas like cultural or indigenous heritage, local produce and high-end food experiences and better value for money.

Like it or not, our Asian neighbours are becoming richer and they will want to travel, not just to Australia, but everywhere.

The chance for Australian tourism providers to cash in on these burgeoning markets are undeniably exciting but we have to be ready and that means creating the business in the first place.

Our natural attractions are already there: what we need is more of the infrastructure that compliments them — shopping, restaurants and so on.

One untapped area of great interest to overseas visitors is our ancient indigenous heritage. 

While we might take it for granted or even show little interest in it, that is not the case for tourists from most countries. 

Indeed, most of them are baffled as to why we don’t place more emphasis on it.

Government policy and industry decision-making must be formulated with a firm eye set on the huge numbers of international visitors forecast in the coming decade.

If we don’t plan properly in order to realise our full potential, we will get left behind.