Media Response |

- City of Ballarat Director of Development and Planning Angelique Lush

How will Council be judged on whether this is a success? 

More visitors staying longer and spending more money in our businesses. We are proud of our beautiful city and we want to share this local perspective with visitors. Ultimately we will know we are successful when the ‘Ballarat is Open’ vision, as defined by our community, becomes a reality.

We want Ballarat to be open - open for business, open for tourism, open for new opportunities and new experiences.

What sort of visitor numbers/ revenue/ overnight in 2/3/5 years will Council be looking for to justify the decision? 

While it is too early to state our targets, our immediate intention is to get more people visiting overnight and experiencing Ballarat like a local. Marketing of our city to domestic and international markets will continue to be a key focus of the Ballarat is Open strategy.

If no figures can be given today, will they be in the coming months? 

Council will develop a comprehensive plan that will include key performance measures to measure performance. We will ensure the ‘Ballarat is Open’ strategy is based on comprehensive research and economic analysis and this will inform our targets moving forward.