The City’s 2018 Christmas program generated an estimated $18.5 million and attracted more than 330,000 visits to central Geelong.
The impressive figures form part of a report to be presented at the Community Focus Council Meeting in Hamlyn Heights this Tuesday night.
The 2018 program delivered together by the City and Central Geelong Marketing featured the floating Christmas tree, City Hall projections and the Central Geelong Christmas trail, including the Myer Geelong Christmas windows.
The program also included regional Christmas decorations throughout Greater Geelong.
Geelong’s Christmas celebrations kicked off on 9 November with the lighting of the floating Christmas tree in front of more than 15,000 people.
An estimated total of 193,650 people visited the iconic floating tree, which was displayed until 7 January.
While the majority of visitors were from Geelong, more than 16 per cent of visitors travelled from Melbourne (7.9 per cent) and regional Victoria (8.4 per cent) and even interstate (1.4 per cent) to see our festive attractions.
In October 2018, Council committed to support Geelong’s key Christmas attraction, the floating Christmas tree for another five years, until 2024.
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood:
Christmas is a fantastic time in Geelong and I really enjoyed seeing families and children coming together and celebrating the festive season in our own uniquely Geelong way.
Our Christmas program continues to generate a significant amount of community pride and also brings more people into Central Geelong, which provides a major boost for traders and businesses in our region.
