Events Driving the South West

When  in January 2012, the newly formed City of Busselton boldly declared its intention to become the Events Capital of Regional WA, there was no real expectation that this would be achieved so successfully in such a short period of time.  But in less than 2 years this is the reality and the City now supports an impressive event calendar which is bringing significant social and economic returns to Busselton, Dunsborough and Yallingup and the broader South West.

With a variety of major events running almost back-to-back through summer and expanding into the traditional ‘off peak’ season, the City has cemented its position as the leading regional location for major events in WA.

In the last 12 months more than 80 major sporting, cultural and community events were staged across the City - an increase of around 80 percent from the previous year. Most impressive is the growing number of high-profile events which are major draw-cards for the region. These events, which include Ironman WA, CinefestOz, Oz Rock Busselton, Southbound, the Quit Forest Rally and the upcoming Red Bull Wings for Life, attract thousands of people to the City and generate significant income.

Much of this success can be attributed to the model development by the City specifically to grow events. City of Busselton Mayor Ian Stubbs said that Council’s decision to introduce a differential rating system in 2012 was a strategic move that is now paying dividends for the community.

“Funds collected through the differential rating scheme are used to market the region and attract quality events – the model has been enormously successful.  Around $420,000 is collected annually through this rates scheme and we estimate that around $45m is returned to the local economy each year through the event calendar.

Of course some of these events were well established before the introduction of the differential rates scheme but over the last 2 years our events calendar has literally doubled. The City is now in the enviable position where we are being singled out by major event organisers as their preferred location. This was certainly the case with the Red Bull Wings for Life event, Busselton was the number one choice for this global race.”

On the back of this broad success come some significant event milestones. In January this year the Festival of Busselton celebrated its 50th anniversary.  The City recently hosted its 10thannual South Bound concert and 10th Ironman WA event. This year the Quit Forest Rally celebrates their 15th year in Busselton.  Next year promises an equally memorable line-up with a major event planned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Busselton Jetty.  The Busselton Jetty Swim will celebrate 20 years and Ironman Busselton, 70.3 will celebrate 15 years – all monumental milestones.

“Which just goes to show,” said Mayor Stubbs, “Not only are we good at attracting events; we’re also good at retaining them!”

For more information visit City of Busselton