$100m war chest to bring world’s best sporting, cultural events to Melbourne
Cities hosting the world’s best sporting and cultural events have been put on notice, with a stealthy plan set to their lure top-tier events to Victoria.
Victoria
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Victoria is ready to make a raid on some of the world’s best sporting and cultural events using a record $100m-a-year tourism war chest.
Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula has signalled a willingness to poach big games from other states, warning them to consider playing “defence” instead of offence once competition for the cream-of-the-crop heats up.
The state budget boosted the Major Events Fund by $152m over four years — on top of $248m already set aside.
As Victoria gets back on its feet after being smashed by the coronavirus pandemic, the government is hoping to net massive sports events and theatre openings using the record splurge.
If COVID-19 remains under control in Australia it should deliver an opportunity to maximise tourism once a vaccine is secured, given it has remained relatively unscathed compared to Europe, the US, and large parts of Asia.
There is likely to be strong competition between states to secure the best events, and while Mr Pakula remained tight-lipped about what the government would target he did promise to play tough.
“We’re going hard at major events with more money than we ever have before after this year’s state budget,” he said.
“Other states thinking about playing offence when it comes to major events might want to think about defence instead, because we’ll be leaving no stone unturned.”
Mr Pakula said Victoria was the “major events capital because we don’t rest on our laurels”. “We’re constantly looking for the next blockbuster to fill our stadiums and our theatres and to pump money into our economy.”
Recent major events calendar success stories have included the Presidents Cup, held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club last December, and the Boomers v USA Basketball which sold out Marvel Stadium twice last August.
In the arts, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – due to resume its long season at the Princess Theatre in the New Year – has had an enchanted run.
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