Tourist attractions throughout the City of Ballarat and beyond are hoping a new ticket bundle will help their recovery after a tough two years.
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The Ballarat Pass is a new initiative launched by council to combine several of the city's biggest tourist attractions into one bundled ticket deal.
Five different package deals are available through the Ballarat Pass, each featuring a different combination of Sovereign Hill, Kryal Castle, the Creswick Woollen Mills, the Eureka Centre, the Art Gallery of Ballarat and the Ballarat Wildlife Park.
The packages start at the $45 per person Animal Lovers package, which includes the Ballarat Wildlife Park and Creswick Woollen Mills, to the $113 per person Fun Filled package which includes all six attractions.
While the Ballarat Pass is a City of Ballarat and Visit Ballarat initiative, it includes two attractions that fall outside the city boundaries in Moorabool Shire's Kryal Castle and Hepburn Shire's Creswick Woollen Mills.
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Creswick Woollen Mills co-manager Emma Matheson said the Ballarat Pass had already driven visitation to the historic mill.
"I think just obviously engaging some different customers than we would normally see. They've booked online, they've gone to the Wildlife Park and then they've come here to see the history as well, so that's tied in really well," she said.
"It's been great to be able to team up with Visit Ballarat, being on their site and visible and people logging on to see what's on in Ballarat and then us, being a close neighbour out in Creswick, being included is pretty special.
"Obviously, they've done the attractions in Ballarat, which is awesome, but then especially making the drive to Creswick, it's great for the Woollen Mills and for them to see the town as well... stopping for lunch in Creswick, having a look at the other attractions that are in the main street, it's really positive."
Kryal Castle general manager Bart Hamilton said the Ballarat Pass would be 'massive' for the medieval museum.
"It's only really just launched, we had a bit of a trial run, but already we've seen about 40 people come through our door based off the Ballarat Pass, which is pretty good considering the Omicron wave and the fact that it's only just launched," he said.
"I think pairing us and Sovereign Hill together is kind of a natural fit in terms of historical tourist attractions. Obviously, they're a bit more relevant to Australian history, but in terms of making a day of it or a weekend of it for people coming to Ballarat, I think it's great advertisement and it's great to kind of piggyback off Ballarat tourism as a whole and also give back as people piggyback off our reputation.
"Looking at the marketing that they've done or that they plan to do, I think it's going to be great to get people from Melbourne and to come down and from the rest of Victoria and especially when interstate travel opens up, the fact that you can just go to a one-stop place and basically pick and choose where you want to go when you come to Ballarat, it's just going to be a win for everyone."
City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King said the pass had generated almost $3000 in ticket sales since it went on sale on December 18.
"It is still very early days for Ballarat Pass but we can expect to see much more promotion in the coming months," he said.
"In the first month this has generated almost $3000 extra ticket sales for local attractions, and we expect this to grow exponentially as more promotional activity kicks in. Views on the webpage are very strong and this means that people are looking for things to see and do in Ballarat.
"Travellers don't see council boundaries like we might so offering a wide range of activities within 20 to 30 minutes of Ballarat encourages them to stay longer in the region and spend money locally."
North ward councillor Peter Eddy said the pass was hoped to attract the valuable friends and relatives tourist market, which normally accounts for 47 per cent of nights spent in Ballarat by tourists, back to Ballarat.
"With the Ballarat Pass, all you need to do is pick your package, pay in the one place and enjoy all these different tourist attractions with your friends and family," he said.
"The tourism sector has been really hard hit by lockdowns and we wanted to find a practical and attractive way to help them get visitors back to their respective attractions.
"The Ballarat Pass also strongly aligns with the City of Ballarat's Traveller Experience Plan and the Visitor Economy Strategy, both of which are aimed at getting one of our strongest economic sectors back up and running at full capacity as soon as we are able."
The Ballarat Pass is available for purchase at www.ballaratpass.com.au/packages.
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