Following yesterday’s cancellation of the 2021 Australian Grand Prix, lobby group Save Victorian Events has suggested community events can help boost the post-Coronavirus recovery of the Victorian economy.
In a statement, noting that Victoria has lost over 100,000 events in the past year, which she says has “a huge impact on the events industry, but also on our communities and our state “Save Victorian Events spokesperson Simon Thewlis said” We are saddened by the loss of every event – whether it is a conference for a non-profit group, a product launch , a community festival or the Grand Prix.
“They are all important. They all contribute to our communities and what makes Victoria a great place … and they all provide much needed income to people and businesses in the events industry.
Emphasizing that “in economic terms, ‘major events’ only account for 5% of the $ 12 billion plus event industry in Victoria,” Thewlis says that we need to think about the “other 95% of events”, adding “we must be devoting time and effort to the many events that can occur now that provide the greatest overall benefit to communities and the state.”
Save Victorian Events articulated the role events can play in the post-coronavirus revival of the Victorian economy, noting that events can help:
- Bring communities together again and help people reconnect and be supported.
- Organizations reconnect with their teams and go through the biggest changes they have faced in their history.
- Entire industries are adapting to this new environment and innovating to take advantage of it.
- Restore confidence in our State and rebuild its profile.
Thewlis added “this is why the events are great. This is what the events are all about.
“But the answer right now is not some very big events. The answer is many smaller events to rebuild – community by community, business by business and sector by industry… (and these) events that can happen now.
“This is about using the events to rebuild Victoria from the ground up and should be the basis for Victoria’s event-led recovery.
“There are currently many unnecessary barriers to hosting events in Victoria, so many of the events that could be safe today are simply not happening.
“Most events are limited to just 300 people (one person per 4 square meters) with no roadmap for higher capacity – yet AFL matches can be played with 25,000 people.”
Save Victorian Events proposes the creation of a new autonomous agency – Events Victoria – with, as Thewlis adds, “people with real experience and knowledge of the events industry: to have a real vision of the role of events in the recovery of Victoria, to provide real practices and financial support to the events industry, and to actively work to ensure that many events happen again.
“It requires taking a much more modern approach than what worked in the 1990s.
“Events are at the heart of Victoria’s identity and brand. Events are a key part of what makes life in Victoria great. The events make a huge contribution to our communities and to our state.
“So it makes sense that events are at the heart of Victoria’s strategy for recovery and for our return to prosperity.”
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