Events as part of Destination Management

For many communities, holding an event is a way of drawing attention to its assets, to attract out-of-town visitation and to build community spirit. The capacity of an event to move beyond the ‘local’ status and to begin attracting external dollars is often determined by its:

• Uniqueness
• Quality
• Management organisational ability
• External marketing, including media coverage
• Location
• Reputation.

After achieving the above over several years, a local event may begin to attract more outside visitors and it may start to reinforce the image of the host destination. In a few cases the event itself may create a whole new image for the town or city. For example, the Bathurst 1000 motor race added a new dimension to and altered visitor perception of the heritage city founded on gold and the riches of the pastoral industry.

However, in most cases a successful event will augment the existing brand values of a destination, eg The Yarra Valley Grape Grazing, the Great Ocean Road Marathon and the Mildura Balloon Festival.

There are also some examples of destinations that have artificially developed events that have gone on to create a new dimension for the location. For example, the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz was conceived nearly 20 years ago by a group looking for something to attract extra visitors to their city.

Occasionally, an event unrelated to the destination’s image may become successful, such as Ouyen’s Great Vanilla Slice Competition and Alice Springs’ Henley on Todd. These examples however are rare and the most sustainable events tend to be those that reinforce local values, attitude and attributes, eg Port Fairy’s Folk Festival and Torquay’s Rip Curl Pro.

Event management and marketing has become a highly developed field. On most weekends, Melburnians can select from a range of city-based events, many of them free. Therefore, the motivation for Melburnians to dedicate a weekend to attend a regional event needs to be very strong.

Click here to read a series of questions suggested by Tourism Victoria’s Events Unit staff  to guide local thinking regarding event choice and planning

While good events that are well organised and supported can enjoy years of public support, it is still important to regularly re-visit business plans and to be aware of changing social trends. Complete re-invention may not be necessary, but significant program ‘tweaking’ will probably be necessary to keep it fresh. For example, following a thorough review of the long standing Ballarat Begonia Festival, it was reduced from eleven to five days. The biennial Castlemaine Arts Festival has recently embraced a high level of environmental sustainability, including carbon neutrality, that has not only provided an added dimension, but also reflects the values of that community.

Not all events have the ability to attract tourism or to establish a new brand for the destination. Many regional events are held primarily to build and celebrate community spirit. Events that are designed from the outset to attract visitors fall into the higher risk category and need to be carefully evaluated, complete with a thorough business plan.

As far as possible, financial planning for events should be predicated on the event itself being able to cover a large part of its operating costs through ticket sales and/or commercial sponsorship. However, there are some government funding sources available to provide event-related funding for a variety of reasons.

Tourism Victoria’s Country Events Program (331kb) (minor regional events seeking up to $10,000)
Arts Victoria (984 kb)– cultural events funding )

Provincial Victoria Sponsorship Program for Local Events (funding available between $10-15,000)

Tourism Victoria Events Program (420 kb)

Click here to read how Mildura has created a calendar of events to tap into a new visitor market (still to come )