Campaign about things to do friends and family

A NEW website aimed at helping locals find things to do in the Ballarat region with when people from out-of-town come for a visit got its official launch on Monday.

Run by the City of Ballarat, the website – Ballarat In The Know – has been set up to showcase events and activities for residents to do with friends and family.

Mayor Cr Des Hudson said that part of the tourist market made up a significant portion of visitors to the region, so it was important to focus on servicing that segment.

“We know that our own residents are great attractors for friends and family that are coming to Ballarat,” he said.

“Using the In The Know campaign, our residents can jump online, have a look at what’s going on in and around Ballarat, and then used that to encourage friends, relatives, and others to come and stay in Ballarat.

“People come to Ballarat and they’ll be out in the restaurants and cafes, so it’s really about that promotion and using friends and family as part of the visitor attraction to Ballarat, which we know generates quite a lot of economic benefit.”

Part of a wider campaign, also called Ballarat In The Know, the temporary project has a $200,000 budget and Cr Hudson said if it works it could be here to stay.

It’s not the first time the City has tried something like this, with the previous events and activities focused, and friends and family attracting efforts, trailed in past years.

“If it’s successful it’ll be something we look to continue on in future years and become part of the normal campaign of things that we do in terms of attracting visitors to Ballarat,” Cr Hudson said.

“Coming out of COVID it is revisiting some of those strategies that worked previously. Revisiting friends and family has been a big push into Ballarat and has been a really useful thing.”