Visit Ballarat’s new chairperson acknowledges attracting more overnight visitation remains one of the organisation’s biggest challenges. 

Paul Armstrong was appointed chair to the board of directors at Visit Ballarat’s annual general meeting on Tuesday last week. 

“My vision is people come, stay, go away and suggest to others they should visit Ballarat... and we get to the stage where more and more are staying overnight,” he said. 

“We need further attractions, further events and places people can go to so they can come to an event in Ballarat on a Saturday from Melbourne, then have somewhere to go on the Sunday.”

There were 2,200,000 domestic day trip visitors to Ballarat in the year ending 2018, up 9.6 per cent on 2017, according to the Visit Ballarat Annual Report 2017 to 2018.

But the number of domestic overnight visitors dropped 8.9 per cent, from 789,000 in 2017 to 719,000 in 2018.

Mr Armstrong joins Visit Ballarat with experience in leadership and management in previous roles at the Western Bulldogs Football Club, AFL Coaches Association and Federation University. 

Ballarat born and bred, Mr Armstrong returned to his home town two years ago after living in Geelong since the early 1990s. 

He said he will bring an independent view to the direction of the board, with a focus on ‘looking after’ Visit Ballarat’s 350 members and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders including City of Ballarat.

“My role over the next month or so is to talk to the stakeholders, the board, the council and to as many members as I possibly can to see what directions or suggestions they have as to how we get the people to come and stay,” he said. 

Data shows most people who visited Ballarat and stayed overnight came from Melbourne, 43.6 per cent, closely followed by regional Victoria, 39.4 per cent.

More than 43 per cent of domestic overnight visitors came to Ballarat to visit friends and relatives while 35.8 per cent came on a holiday.

The annual report details a Brand Health Measurement Tool introduced in May 2018 to track awareness, consideration and intention to visit. 

A survey of 510 Melburnians who had traveled to regional Victoria in the past two years revealed almost half doubt whether Ballarat can fulfill their needs. 

“Asked what they want from a trip, regional tourists foremost say ‘good food’ and ‘a relaxing atmosphere’. Ballarat sits behind other regional Victorian destinations as being perceived to fulfil these needs,” the report said. 

Mr Armstrong said Visit Ballarat’s new tourism campaign Made of Ballarat has generated media interest, with articles on Ballarat featuring in The Age and Australian Traveller. 

The campaign, launched in August, targets Melbourne’s ‘lifestyle leaders’ by promoting Ballarat’s artisans. 

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