Figures presented to the Greater Geelong council during Tuesday night’s meeting have highlighted the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our region’s events sector.
The Geelong Major Events Committee’s annual report shows that seven sponsored events were able to go ahead during the 2020-21 financial year, generating an estimated $9.2 million in economic activity.
This represented a strong return on the council’s sponsorship investment of 28:1, achieved despite challenges associated with the pandemic.
The events attracted around 70,000 participants and spectators, with 54 per cent of those coming from outside the Greater Geelong region.
The highlight of the 2020-21 events schedule was the ‘RONE in Geelong’ exhibition, which generated record attendances at the Geelong Gallery and brought an estimated economic impact of almost $4.23 million.
The 2021 Head of the Schoolgirls Regatta injected around $1.45 million into the local economy, while the 2021 Ironman 70.3 Geelong event provided an economic boost of approximately $1.18 million.
However, the report also indicates that 13 planned events were forced to be cancelled or postponed.
It estimates that the nine cancelled events resulted in the loss of around $40 million in economic benefit for the region.
The report lists four events as ‘postponed’, although the Australian International Airshow – worth $28.9 million to the local economy the last time it was staged – has since been cancelled.
As a comparison, during 2018-19 – the last full financial year not impacted by COVID-19 – Geelong Major Events sponsored events injected $99.3 million into the local economy.
Mayor Stephanie Asher said the report provided another stark reminder of the pandemic’s impact.
“Major events are vitally important to local businesses and they also bring our community together – so we feel their cancellation from both a financial and social perspective.
The events that were able to go ahead have still proven to be a significant driver of visitation and economic activity to Greater Geelong, providing excellent value for council’s investment. The RONE exhibition was especially successful.
“Hopefully we are not too far away from our vaccination levels reaching a point where major events can be planned and staged with more certainty.”
Restrictions on international travel caused havoc, forcing the cancellation of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Bay Cycling Classic, Vic Open golf, Blackball World Championships and Australian Open table tennis – which would all have featured competitors from around the world.
The annual Festival of Sails, traditionally a feature attraction for visitors over the Australia Day long weekend, was also unable to go ahead.
Councillor Ron Nelson, chair of the Major Events portfolio, thanked the Geelong Major Events Committee for its efforts during an incredibly challenging period.
“In an extremely uncertain landscape, we have continued to work hard to attract events to Greater Geelong and to assist organisers to stage their events wherever possible.
Our region is known as a vibrant destination for world class events.
We are focused on delivering an exciting calendar in 2022, in the hope and expectation that we will have a more stable environment to host major events.”
