Events strategy urges Goulburn Mulwaree to build on events success

The nominated city, Adelaide, was out of the question due to COVID. The Central Coast couple needed multiple dance floor venues, a variety of accommodation and a central location.

Mrs Nicholson said the Goulburn Recreation, with the Veolia Arena, Grace Millsom Centre, basketball stadium and cafe facilities were just the ticket.

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"The support from the council and an events grant won us over and made sure we could run a positive event," she said.

"It reduced venue hire costs and allowed us to promote the event. Without that we wouldn't have covered costs."

The Convention, from April 20 to 25, attracted 300 people from across Australia.

Mrs Nicholson said she would definitely consider Goulburn again for other dance events the couple run.

"Everyone was so easy to deal with. It's a great venue and Goulburn has a lot to offer. Everyone had a wonderful time."

The weekend was a busy one with the Pacific Shield and Indigenous Heritage Shield tag tournament and the Superbikes round at Wakefield Park.

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The council's coordinator of marketing and events, Jessica Price, said all Goulburn's accommodation was booked out.

The trend will continue if recommendations in a recently completed events strategy are implemented.

The council commissioned consultants, Mayvin Global, to undertake the study at a $20,000 cost.

It compared Goulburn Mulwaree to other regional destinations such as Albury, Bathurst, Mudgee, Wagga Wagga, Eurobodalla and Queanbeyan Palerang in terms of event spend, resourcing and genres.

"The larger regional areas demonstrated what Goulburn Mulwaree could aspire to as it matures as a regional destination," it concluded.

"Namely, more accommodation and future investment in purpose built or existing accommodation to support a broad range of accommodation."

The council area has 31 accommodation outlets incorporating 1400 beds, with visitors spending an average $167 per night on their stays, according to Destination NSW. Many of these were rated three stars, which the study stated could impact "higher yielding/higher value" travellers.

The authors noted that Goulburn Mulwaree was strong on hosting sporting events but this posed a threat as state and national organisations became "torn" between offering certainty of location and sharing fixtures around Australia. Instead, they recommended the council target repeat and new sporting events.

It identified the new aquatic centre, proposed Goulburn to Crookwell rail trail and "great terrain for mountain bike riding" as key opportunities.

The area also compared well with community events but ranked "significantly lower" in the arts and culture and music fields.

The study identified opportunities for arts and culture, food and wine, and business events in the longer term.

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Ms Price said in the short-term, the events marketing team would continue promoting Goulburn Mulwaree's "unique selling points," as the authors recommended. In addition, they would develop the events funding policy, which helped lure fixtures.

"We'll also be working with the Goulburn Performing Arts Centre to incorporate some acts from the Blues Festival and Steampunk...and with Southern Tablelands Arts (STARTS) to attract more arts and culture events," she said.

In the longer-term, the team will also implement a recommendation to introduce more indigenous themed events into the calendar. More immediately, organisers will be encouraged to include a welcome to or acknowledgement of country.

Last year, the area hosted 68 events, with 26 of these categorised as 'major' or 'tourism' fixtures. The council allocated $712,798 for its events funding budget.

The strategy also revealed that Goulburn Mulwaree had about 860,000 visitors from 2016 to 2019, with day trippers making up 60 to 70 per cent of these.

The authors conducted a survey with local sporting, arts and community organisations, as well as clubs and council staff. They identified the 'lack' of accommodation, 'limited' transport options, the need for 'better' food and shopping options as constraints. However, Goulburn Mulwaree's location and the council's 'experienced and well organised' events team were seen as strengths.

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Some also called on the council to allocate more to events funding.

Ms Price said recommendations were already being implemented. In addition, staff are developing a 'toolkit' to guide organisers on running events and negotiating council requirements. The toolkit will also help staff evaluate events' success.

"It's very important that we have a guiding document and direction," she said of the strategy.

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