Geelong Major Events Five-year plan supported by Council

City of Greater Geelong has supported a strategy to increase the value of major events in Greater Geelong to $131 million per year by 2029.

Greater Geelong played host to 18 major events in 2022-23, generating an economic benefit of $77.5 million.

This represented a return on investment of 1:48 on the just over $1.6 million that the City of Greater Geelong invested to support these events.

These events also supported approximately 650 full-time equivalent jobs and drew a substantial audience of 758,000 spectators and participants to the region.

The new Geelong Major Events Strategy 2024 – 2029 aims to build on this success by increasing the economic impact of major events by 10% each year over the next five years.

Importantly, the strategy also seeks to extend its focus beyond economic impact by increasing local resident participation by 30%, halving the carbon footprint of major events and building Geelong’s brand as Australia’s premier regional events destination.

Attracting more arts, music and culture to the region in an effort to promote a greater diversity of major events is also a key feature of the renewed strategy.

Mayor Trent Sullivan notes “Major events generate significant economic benefits for businesses the region.

“Each year Greater Geelong hosts a colourful and exciting line-up of major events that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to our beautiful part of the world.

“This renewed strategy will help expand our major events calendar and cement Greater Geelong as Australia’s preeminent regional destination for major events.”

Image: National Celtic Festival held in June in Geelong