Geelong council to consider hospitality and entertainment rebate system to bolster Covid-19 recovery

Geelong council will consider launching a hospitality rebate program to help bolster the recovery of the city’s dining and entertainment businesses in the wake of Covid-19 disruptions.

Geelong council will consider launching a hospitality rebate program to help bolster the recovery of the city’s dining and entertainment businesses in the wake of Covid-19 disruptions.

But, the plan comes as a city report suggests retail, dining and entertainment spending across the municipality has “generally recovered to pre COVID-19 levels”, and warns a rebate program would take six more months to set up.

The council will meet on Tuesday to consider a report it requested in November outlining a potential Melbourne-style voucher or rebate scheme to lure punters back into the city’s retail, hospitality and entertainment venues.

The potential plan drawn up by city officers suggests enacting a rebate scheme – which would see more immediate results than a voucher system – targeting “off peak dining” from Sundays to Thursdays, potentially offering a 25 per cent money back offer on spending between $50 and $150.

A rebate budget of $500,000 would generate 15,000 to 25,000 claims the report estimated.

The city would also need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on program costs if it did launch a rebate scheme, the report warned.

“The expected budget for a Dining Rebate Scheme which would make an impact across our region is an estimated $375,000 for program costs to support a $500,000 rebate fund,” the report noted. “If the fund was increased to $1 million, the program costs would be an estimated $425,000.”

“The $425,000 of program costs include the contractor’s fees ($75,000), staffing of 2.5 project officers ($150,000) and a marketing campaign and point-of-sale collateral ($150,000).

“If Council were to support such a program for Geelong in the future, it is recommended this be subject to Victorian Government funding support and the City’s annual budget processes.”

The State Government in February announced a new and extended $100 million voucher scheme to provide Victorians with rebates for entertainment, dining and travel, expected to add a financial boost to businesses in the region.

“Should Council want to deliver a similar stand-alone program in the future, a program based on the same principles as the current statewide rebate scheme, utilising external contractors and with Victorian Government funding support is seen as the best low risk and high reward option,” the city report noted.

“It is expected the lead time would be six months to establish and launch a standalone program in Geelong.”

Originally published as Geelong council to consider hospitality and entertainment rebate system to bolster Covid-19 recovery