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This article was published on Monday, 7 March, 2016. The information contained within may be out of date or inaccurate. News articles and media releases older than 60 days are archived for future reference.

#MakeAWeekendOfIt events benefits region’s businesses

Director Sustainable Development Johann Rajaratnam said initial reports from CBD traders and businesses have been positive. “The town was really busy over the weekend with retail hospitality and entertainment venues showing significant increase in trade,” he said.

“The estimated economic benefit to the region is around $1.5 million,” said Mr Rajaratnam.

“Despite the heat, accommodation was almost booked out on Friday night and Saturday night was absolutely full spilling out into the broader region,” said Mr Rajaratnam.

“We had 5448 attendees at the football match between Geelong and Essendon. We actually sold close to 7,000 tickets but a lot of people didn’t come due to heat over the weekend.”

“To hold our fifth game here in nine years is a real coup, it’s the most of any other city in regional Victoria,” he said.

“There were 2000 attendees at the netball (1,000 each game) with around 1,000 of these attendees coming from outside Greater Shepparton from right across regional Victoria, Melbourne and interstate. If we had 5,000 tickets we could have sold them all.”

Mr Rajaratnam said the state-wide marketing campaign of “make a weekend out of it” worked well with significant state wide and national exposure for Shepparton.

“All four elite teams from the football and netball games have praised Shepparton for providing such a welcoming environment and support.”

The Murchison Tomato Festa also had strong numbers despite the heat with lots of visitors from across the broader region visiting the town.

It was also the launch weekend for the Shepparton Festival “To Be Consumed” with several events on over the weekend attracting people to visit Shepparton.

CLICK HERE to see what else is on this week across Greater Shepparton.