Council & Business
10 October, 2022
World Heritage bid to bring $440 million economic boost
An independent report outlining the economic benefits of achieving a UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Central Victorian Goldfields believes a listing would bring $440 million into the local economy and increase regional income by $150 million...
An independent report outlining the economic benefits of achieving a UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Central Victorian Goldfields believes a listing would bring $440 million into the local economy and increase regional income by $150 million.
The City of Greater Bendigo and City of Ballarat, alongside the Victorian Goldfields Tourism Executive and co-patrons and former premiers John Brumby and Denis Napthine are leading the campaign for a listing on behalf of 13 central Victorian councils.
An economic benefit assessment, prepared by TRC Tourism and MCa was released late last week and has found a World Heritage listing offers the opportunity to accelerate regional recovery and provide long term economic, social and cultural benefits for the region.
By the 10th year following a listing, the assessment states there would be an additional 2.2 million new visitors to the region, a further $440 million spent in the local economy, an additional 1750 jobs and a $150 million increase in regional income compared to the current business as usual tourism growth.
Central Goldfields Shire mayor and Victorian Goldfields Tourism Executive chair Chris Meddows-Taylor said the assessment confirmed the World Heritage listing was worth pursuing for the region.
“This really is great because independently and professionally, it not only verifies what we knew about the economic benefits of this but shows that our assumptions were as we always believed, conservative,” he said.
“This gives us a hard nose business case to say come on, give us this investment.”
The coalition has been seeking $500,000 from the Victorian Government to complete a list of proposed heritage sites and a plan for increased regional spending.
With the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which has a specific focus on regional Victoria, Cr Meddows-Taylor said a World Heritage listing would further build central Victoria as a tourism destination.
“What we’re finding with the games is that added investment is required for accommodation and investors are saying the games will come and go, what will there be after that and that is an opportunity for this bid,” he said.
“We want to link the economic benefits of the bid to the case for investment in the commonwealth games.
“UNESCO has a process and I think it’s very doable, even if it’s not completed by the 2026 games, our hope is that it would be so far advanced that we could really showcase what we have to offer.”
UNESCO’s World Heritage listings were first introduced as a means to ensure the conservation of critical heritage and Cr Meddows-Taylor said the Central Goldfields Shire is well placed for a listing because of this.
“The key thing we want out of the Commonwealth Games and the bid as a whole is investment in the Maryborough Railway Station because we want to make that a destination to tell the story of gold within the whole region,” he said.
“We’re magnificently placed between Ballarat and Bendigo and we’re looking at how we can better use that to our advantage — this bid supports that.
“The station really gives us a massive investment case, we want our station and our shire to be front and centre and a global destination.”
The economic benefit assessment also found the region would need a further 4140 rooms of accommodation, at a cost of $570 million, over a 10-year period following a World Heritage listing.
“Both Ballarat and Bendigo are host cities for the games and one of the key advantages of hosting the games regionally is to further boost Victorian regional economies,” co-patron of the bid, Mr Napthine said.
“However, investors need strong evidence of strong ongoing regional tourism in addition to the ‘sugar hit’ from the two week window of games competition in order to justify significant investment in regional tourism accommodation and infrastructure.
“This assessment not only clearly demonstrates the case for World Heritage listing but also proves to developers and businesses that when listing is achieved, this will deliver a strong steady stream of tourists filling local accommodation and supporting new and upgraded tourism product.”