Tourism and entertainment driving Geelong’s economy

Tourism is a major driver of our economy all-year round, but it reaches its peak during this holiday period.

Council data shows there is as more than 400,000 people staying overnight in Greater Geelong during summer.

As locals know, the Bellarine Peninsula hosts a large amount of our visitors.

Our permanent population – about 60,450 – more than doubles to 127,000, with people moving into holiday homes, caravan parks, hotels, and guest houses.

With great events such as the Portarlington Mussel Festival and the Wonderland Spiegeltent Festival also drawing day trippers during January, the Bellarine is a hive of activity and energy.

Our latest tourism sector update shows that the wider region has rebounded from the depths of the pandemic restrictions faster than expected.

Surpassing pre-pandemic highs, the visitor economy was worth $1.6 billion during 2022-23.

This was on the back of 6.2 million visitors to Greater Geelong and the Bellarine, who stayed a combined 4.4 million nights locally.

Almost a quarter of that $1.6 billion visitor spend is on hospitality and entertainment, reinforcing how highly people valuable the culinary experience and attractions on offer here.

More than 6400 people are employed in the tourism and hospitality sector, with a large rise in jobs expected over the next decade as our visitor numbers continue to grow.

Like our tourism sector, the Bellarine’s premier arts and cultural hub has also bounced back strongly from a challenging period.

The Potato Shed (now also known as the Bellarine Arts Centre), attracted more than 103,000 visitors during 2022-23.

Encouragingly, more than one-third of these (38,640) were school students, with the Potato Shed providing a wide range of arts and performance opportunities for our next generation.

While the resident theatre companies continue to be busy, it has been fantastic to see several new groups utilise the Potato Shed’s versatile spaces.

With a great mix of cabaret, dance, drama, music and circus, as well as the popular school holiday pantomimes and Morning Showtime Shows, the 2024 Season promises to be as good as ever.

Visit www.geelongaustralia.com.au/potatoshed for more information on the upcoming program.

Learning from, and working with, the members of the Youth Council remains one of my highlights as a councillor.

The 2023 cohort was among the most impressive I have dealt with during my time, and the program has benefits for both the Youth members and the wider Council group.

In their last report for the year, the outgoing Youth Council again gave us some direct and clear advice about one of their priority projects.

The creation of a youth hub in central Geelong has been progressing, with the Victorian Government providing $400,000 in funding for the City to run a two-year pilot program.

After detailed assessment, the City has settled on a portion of the Busport site in Brougham Street to host the youth hub.

Youth Council have recommended that young people play a key role in the planning and design of the youth space, and also help guide the activities and events that are held once it opens.

That is advice that has been taken on board, with engagement and co-design with young people – and the wider community – to begin in early 2024.

Cr Jim Mason,

Bellarine Ward