{"id":49781,"date":"2021-03-11T00:22:30","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T13:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=49781"},"modified":"2021-03-11T00:22:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T13:22:30","slug":"centre-of-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Centre of attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Central Geelong events edge closer to pre-pandemic level<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE Labour Day weekend has welcomed a record number of events to Geelong\u2019s CBD since the pandemic, but the sleepy coast has taken yet another blow.<\/p>\n

Business is well and truly back in the region, which came as a much-needed boost for the hospitality, tourism and events industries following last month\u2019s snap lockdown.<\/p>\n

With a series of events attracting visitors to the CBD, it was reported to be on par with the region\u2019s biggest weekend of activities since early 2020.<\/p>\n

Visitors flocked to the inner-city for a series of events including Coastal Jam, the Rone exhibition, the Pako Festa arts trail and light projections as well as the Oceania Regionals Seniors Tennis tournament.<\/p>\n

Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine chief executive officer Brett Ince confirmed strong booking numbers across the city\u2019s accommodation venues, which suffered last-minute cancellations during the Valentine\u2019s Day lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are certainly understanding from the accommodation and hospitality businesses it has been a really positive weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Melburnians came down to experience the region and experience the number of attractions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce reported a $100 million loss across the state\u2019s hospitality industry during the five-day lockdown, with the overall impact on the economy expected to be up to one billion dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think it shows we are steering towards a new COVID-normal that is really positive for the tourism industry, which has suffered over last few months,\u201d Mr Ince said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows hope and it shows this is the commencement of what we can do over the next few periods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geelong Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Ben Flynn credited organisers for having the confidence to start planning events again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are finding people are keen to get back to events and we are finding that they have been well supported as people are looking to reconnect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really robust about the future of Geelong, the population growth remains great and the infrastructure and jobs that are coming to region in the long-term are really positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeelong\u2019s business community is coming together and being really brave, so I think there will be a lot of good news in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite strong visitation in the inner city, Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said the coast experienced below average numbers over the Labour Day weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese weekends are critical for the domestic market which is geared around weekends, long weekends and holidays,\u201d Ms Price said.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch has shown that the uncertainty of being stuck away from home is a big concern for a lot of people ahead of their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Price said pockets along the coast had particularly struggled over the summer months with visitation to places such as Port Campbell being down 60 per cent over December and January.<\/p>\n

The ongoing staff shortage and lack of visitors has caused many businesses along the Great Ocean Road to reduce their opening hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are booking later and leaving decisions to last minute, so Easter is looking behind at the moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nervousness going into the colder months because post-Easter visitation typically drops and then JobKeeper ends in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a strong summer so there is concerns there will be a long winter, which is hard to capture visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite talks of international travel opening up towards the end of the year, Ms Price said it could be 2023-2024 before the return of traditional visitation from places such as the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of uncertainty for a long time to come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Central Geelong events edge closer to pre-pandemic level THE Labour Day weekend has welcomed a record number of events to Geelong\u2019s CBD since the pandemic, but the sleepy coast has taken yet another blow. Business is well and truly back in the region, which came as a much-needed boost for the hospitality, tourism and events […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":49782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-49781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCentre of attention - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Centre of attention - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Central Geelong events edge closer to pre-pandemic level THE Labour Day weekend has welcomed a record number of events to Geelong\u2019s CBD since the pandemic, but the sleepy coast has taken yet another blow. Business is well and truly back in the region, which came as a much-needed boost for the hospitality, tourism and events [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Georgia Holloway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georgia Holloway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Georgia Holloway\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c9f6455a0b9c3da7d9ed693000cacfc\"},\"headline\":\"Centre of attention\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":616,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/\",\"name\":\"Centre of attention - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"A series of events have taken place over the long-weekend indicating a return to normality for Geelong. Pictured: Coastal Jam Geelong\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/centre-of-attention\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Centre of attention\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"Surf Coast Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c9f6455a0b9c3da7d9ed693000cacfc\",\"name\":\"Georgia Holloway\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/author\\\/georgiaholloway\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Centre of attention - Surf Coast Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Centre of attention - Surf Coast Times","og_description":"Central Geelong events edge closer to pre-pandemic level THE Labour Day weekend has welcomed a record number of events to Geelong\u2019s CBD since the pandemic, but the sleepy coast has taken yet another blow. Business is well and truly back in the region, which came as a much-needed boost for the hospitality, tourism and events [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/","og_site_name":"Surf Coast Times","article_published_time":"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Georgia Holloway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Georgia Holloway","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/"},"author":{"name":"Georgia Holloway","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/1c9f6455a0b9c3da7d9ed693000cacfc"},"headline":"Centre of attention","datePublished":"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/"},"wordCount":616,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/","name":"Centre of attention - Surf Coast Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-10T13:22:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Coastal-Jam-2021-The-Pier-scaled-e1615267561216.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"A series of events have taken place over the long-weekend indicating a return to normality for Geelong. Pictured: Coastal Jam Geelong"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/centre-of-attention\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Centre of attention"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","name":"Surf Coast Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization","name":"Surf Coast Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","width":350,"height":38,"caption":"Surf Coast Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/1c9f6455a0b9c3da7d9ed693000cacfc","name":"Georgia Holloway","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/author\/georgiaholloway\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49781"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=49781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}