The Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) has welcomed the conditional approval of Crown’s Queensbridge Hotel Tower and congratulated the Victorian Government on a decision that will support the creation of more than 1,000 direct and indirect ongoing tourism jobs.

The Tower, designed by architectural firm Wilkinson Eyre, will be made up of a 388 room, luxury, six-star hotel, approximately 700 apartments, and a publicly accessible restaurant and lounge at the top of the tower.

“The approval of Crown’s six-star Queensbridge Hotel Tower is fantastic news for Victoria’s booming visitor economy. It is a vote of confidence by both Crown and the Victorian Government in the tourism industry and its importance to our economic future,” said Margy Osmond, TTF CEO.

“The Victorian visitor economy has been leading the nation in terms of its rapid growth rate and the approval of major projects like the Queensbridge Hotel Tower will only help to further turbocharge the State’s tourism sector.

“TTF would like to congratulate Premier Andrews and the Victorian Government for backing a project that will provide 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 ongoing tourism jobs as well as an estimated $2.1 billion in economic benefit to the State.”

Ms Osmond said Crown’s agreement to invest up to $100 million in a community benefits package would deliver a wider benefit to ensuring that the Southbank precinct is a must-experience destination for international and domestic visitors to Melbourne.

“The potential to attract more visitors to Australia and grow our tourism sector to support more jobs and economic activity can only be reached if we have the investment in our visitor infrastructure to match.

“Today’s decision to approve this world-class project is exactly the type of activity we need to be seeing across Australia to make sure we remain a destination of choice for the competitive global travel market.”