How Ballarat's biggest tourism operator is thanking locals for their loyalty

A year to the day since The Courier first ran a story about the initial impact of the then unnamed coronavirus strain on Sovereign Hill, 1000 $10 tickets will be released for a new 'We Love You Ballarat' campaign.

It will allow adult visitors to enter the attraction on February 14 - Valentine's Day was chosen deliberately to fit the theme - for less than a third of the usual cost, with children half price.

The event sponsors are local development company Integra, whose staff said they wanted to find a way to support the hard-hit tourism sector - and offer an opportunity for locals to celebrate as the region gradually re-emerges for the stasis of the past year.

The attraction's chief executive Sara Quon said: "Ballarat locals were incredibly supportive to Sovereign Hill through our closure and then our reopening.

"So we decided to have a day to celebrate our relationship with locals and to make it really accessible after what has been a really tough year for so many families."

A year ago Ms Quon told The Courier that Chinese visitation had plummeted by 70 per cent. There was much worse to come, including a complete halt in international tourism, and two extended shutdowns when COVID restrictions came into place.

The impact has been dramatic: the annual report revealed a $4,796,262 drop in entrance takings last financial year, much of that caused from the autumn shutdown.

"None of us could have predicted where we would be a year later, and no question it has been an incredibly challenging year globally and locally," Ms Quon said.

"It's just so wonderful to see the community start to feel a little bit of confidence starting to return in 2021 - although none of us are complacent."

While the site is not yet running at previous capacity - numbers are capped at 1000 each day - Ms Quon said the return of staff had been an "amazing" lift .

Soon the attraction will start to welcome back local school groups for the first time in a long while.

"We celebrate each of those small wins as we take each gradual step to what we will eventually be a full return," she said.

She also hopes the event may be emulated in the future as part of a strategy to emphasise the attraction's place in the community.

According to its own data, Sovereign Hill supports 1,216 jobs and contributes $183 million annually to the local economy, and has set its sights on more than doubling both those figures by 2040.

"We are proud to be a Ballarat non-profit business," Ms Quon said.

"I think community partnerships for us are something we will put a lot more focus on in the coming while.

"That relationship has been strong. I am excited to see how that can play out in lots more ways, and we'll get a lot more creative."

While the organisation's 50th anniversary was muted last November, the aim is to make up for that this year.

"For us, 2021 is a year of celebration of being 50," the chief executive said. "I think it's right that that celebration is kicked off with a great local reach-out."

Integra's Maxine Ryan sounded a similar note, saying: "With COVID last year, all local and regional industries have been affected, especially tourism and hospitality - and we wanted to give [something] back.

"What better than going in your own backyard and visiting Sovereign Hill - and hopefully that 10 dollar ticket makes it affordable for everybody."

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