Media Response |

The City of Ballarat and Ballarat Regional Tourism hosted approximately 20 attraction and accommodation providers at a forum on Monday to hear first-hand the impacts of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) on their businesses and to discuss supporting activities.

Levels of impact differ between operators, with the reduction in group travel by Chinese tourists having the biggest impact on key Ballarat tourist attractions.

While Council and BRT have been monitoring the situation by engaging directly with operators, this meeting was about measuring the current impact and determining what we can realistically do as united group given the unfolding situation,” Angelique Lush, Director of Development and Planning said.

The City of Ballarat and Ballarat Regional Tourism joined forces to reach out to the sector to offer assistance and to determine how existing visitor markets can be maintained and expanded. The forum was also an opportunity to share information about the State and Federal Government activities currently underway.

“We need to ensure local operators work together and tap into the City’ s current marketing campaigns, such as ‘Weekends in Ballarat’” she said.

Operators were strongly encouraged to register their events on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse website via the Visit Ballarat site and to come forward with suggestions about how we can maintain strong relationships with our international partners.

The City of Ballarat and Ballarat Regional Tourism will look to hold a second forum within the month to monitor the situation.

City-wide business continuity and transition plan

The City of Ballarat is also conscious that the impact of Covid-19 extends beyond the visitor economy. We are hearing reports of impact on education, manufacturing, retail and construction industries and have initiated its city-wide business continuity and transition plan. “We plan to hold meetings with affected businesses in the coming weeks to ensure the plan reflects the situation facing our businesses”. Businesses are encouraged to contact the City of Ballarat Economic Development Unit economicdevelopment [at] ballarat.vic.gov.au if they are concerned about the immediate impact of Covid-19.