The Chairman of Tourism Midwest Victoria says this year’s Begonia Festival has attracted an enormous amount of free national media for Ballarat as well as a healthy economic return.
Crowd numbers over the Labour Day long weekend topped 55,000, that’s about 10,000 more people than last year.
“You know those amazing flowers get so much publicity for the region,” John Pandazopoulos said.
“Visitors turning up, and what we call ‘free ink media exposure’ has provided about $5.3m in economic value to the region.”
“We work with travel photographers and travel writers, and it’s like if they write their articles or show their photos it’s like paid advertising,” he said.
Meantime, festival season rolls-on in Ballarat with Harmony Fest currently underway until next Thursday followed by the Heritage Festival from May 16 to 25.
