{"id":114895,"date":"2026-05-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/?p=114895"},"modified":"2026-04-29T22:15:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:15:25","slug":"council-workshops-to-help-shape-economy-and-future-tourism-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/council-workshops-to-help-shape-economy-and-future-tourism-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Council workshops to help shape economy and future tourism plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BALLINA Shire Council has opened consultation on a new Economic Development and Visitor Economy Strategy, with local businesses and tourism operators invited to help shape the plan.<\/p>\n<p>A series of workshops will be held at Ballina RSL Club on Monday, 4 May and Lennox Head CWA Hall on Wednesday, 6 May.<\/p>\n<p>In Ballina Shire, more than 5,000 businesses support 22,730 jobs, with small businesses accounting for 85 per cent of the local economy.<\/p>\n<p>The region is also home to more than 200 tourism-related accommodation and food businesses, with the visitor economy extending into arts, transport, recreation and retail sectors.<\/p>\n<p>Recent trading conditions have been mixed, with some accommodation and dining operators impacted by rising fuel costs and the cancellation of Bluesfest.<\/p>\n<p>Destination and economy team coordinator Alanah Ward said the consultation would help capture local experiences and priorities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is an opportunity to share what is happening on the ground in your business and across the region,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Feedback will help identify local strengths and competitive advantages, current challenges in the business and visitor economy, as well as future opportunities for growth, investment and council support.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The strategy will guide how council supports local business, tourism and investment across the shire through to 2035.<\/p>\n<p>It is being developed in collaboration with business, industry, community and government stakeholders and will align with council&#8217;s broader planning framework.<\/p>\n<p>Community members can take part in workshops or complete an online survey.<\/p>\n<p>Registrations for the workshops can be made at <a href=\"http:\/\/events.humanitix.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">events.humanitix.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The survey is available at <a href=\"http:\/\/surveymonkey.com\/r\/ballinabusiness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">surveymonkey.com\/r\/ballinabusiness<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BALLINA Shire Council has opened consultation on a new Economic Development and Visitor Economy Strategy, with local businesses and tourism operators invited to help shape the plan. A series of workshops will be held at Ballina RSL Club on Monday, 4 May and Lennox Head CWA Hall on Wednesday, 6 May. In Ballina Shire, more [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/council-workshops-to-help-shape-economy-and-future-tourism-plans\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":114896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-114895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Council workshops to help shape economy and future tourism plans - Ballina Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ballina Economic Development workshops: Help shape the Shire&#039;s tourism and business strategy through to 2035. 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