The Economic Development Department has commissioned its 2017/2018 major events economic and visitation statistics and is seeing increases in most areas of measurement.
These major events are made up of sporting, lifestyle, cultural, arts, community, festivals, celebrations and business events held at facilities across the region.
Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said there had been more than $44 million injected into the local economy through direct and indirect expenditure as part of the major events calendar.
“This year has seen Greater Shepparton go from strength to strength by hosting a range of different events. We have hosted events most weekends that have been very beneficial for our local businesses, community and visitors,” Cr O’Keeffe said.
“The streets, parks and shops have been filled with visitors to the region as part of the events calendar, which has drawn more than 350,000 attendees throughout the year.”
Council’s Director Sustainable Development Geraldine Christou said hosting significant events had a flow on effect for the wider community.
“We are coming off the back of perhaps the busiest month of visitation weekends for Greater Shepparton, creating a boom for our accommodation, retail and hospitality industries,” Ms Christou said.
“Major recent events such as the Victorian State Netball Titles, Basketball Australia Under 14 Girls Club Championships, Australian Football Skools International Soccer Championships, Challenge Shepparton Triathlon, Victorian Open Bowls and the upcoming Junior Basketball Tournament are packing out the region which has seen more than 100,000 nights of accommodation generated this past year.
“Not only do these major events generate a growth of spending for our local businesses but they also bring jobs to the region, with this past year seeing 319 full time equivalent jobs supported by the major events program.”
Council’s work is building confidence that Greater Shepparton is a major events destination in regional Victoria.
“The team is working hard to bring the biggest and best events to the region to generate a good return on investment for our residents, keeping local businesses busy and the economy strong,” Ms Christou said.
Council looks forward to seeing what new events will bring to the region in the future such as the 2019 Cricket Australia Country Championship, 2019 AFL JLT Community Series fixture between Richmond and Melbourne, 2019 BMX Australia National Championships, 2019 AFL Vline Cup, 2019 Victorian Country Week Tennis and the 2019 Hockey Australia Country Championships.
The new large scale music event secured by Greater Shepparton City Council in partnership with Shepparton Show Me will see RED HILL Entertainment coordinate the inaugural music event which has been a key event genre that the community has been asking for and is expecting to attract up to 3,000 attendees to the Shepparton Showgrounds next year.
The cycling world will be racing to the region in 2020, as Shepparton hosts the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in a landmark international event for the region, which will see 200 international competitors and around 3,000 visitors from intrastate, interstate and international converge on the region for a three days festival of cycling.
