Australia’s major market will formally gather for the first time today for the inaugural National Markets Conference. Held in Melbourne, the two day conference will mark the first time local produce, historic, and tourist markets have met in a bid to share ideas, discuss trends, and establish a blueprint for how the sector can sustain growth in the future. Forty delegates will attend the conference, a joint effort from Fremantle Markets and the South Melbourne Market, including Salaman
nca Market, Sydney Markets, St Kilda Esplanande Markets, The Rocks Market, Brisbane Markets, Caloundra Street Fair, Eumundi Market, Mindil Beach Sunset Market, and Kununurra Market.
Melbourne’s oldest market, the South Melbourne Market, has seen an 11 per cent increase in visitor numbers during the past three years, and reported the highest attendance numbers in its 147 year history in the 2013-14 financial year, with more than 3.8 million visitors.
In WA, Fremantle Markets is attracting high visitor numbers with a 27 per cent increase over the past four years and had in excess of 2.5 million visitors last financial year, but Natasha Atkinson, CEO of the Fremantle Markets, says increased competition is placing pressure on the sector.
“The biggest concern is increased competition for the retail dollar. That’s not just from other markets and shopping centres that’s from other attractions as well because markets are not only retail but they are attractions to tourists. It’s that retail dollar,” Atkinson told Inside Retail PREMIUM.
“Demand can stay high as long we keep a strong point of difference. In economic times like now people want that community feeling and that belonging and we really want to capture that and maintain that.
“Markets are still a meeting place for communities but then they have all the other added benefits of an attraction in a retail hub and if we can keep that mix right then demand for markets will stay strong.”
Event speakers include Russell Zimmerman, CEO of Australian Retail Association; Gilbert Rochecouste, director of Village Well; and Francis Loughran, a consultant for Future Food.
