Regional Events Strategy
Penrith City Council, NSW
Penrith is located in Western Sydney with a population of 190,000. With internationally-acclaimed venues, access to transport, plenty of open spaces and the majestic Blue Mountains as a backdrop, Penrith is a great choice for music, sport, culture and community events.
Project purpose
Council wanted to identify the best-fit events to attract and which existing events to develop to build a balanced and sustainable events portfolio that will grow the visitor economy and enhance the liveability of Penrith.
While Penrith hosts hundreds of events each year, Council recognises there are opportunities to achieve greater economic and social outcomes.
Penrith aspires to be an event-friendly destination that is a sought-after location for events and home to a balanced portfolio of external and homegrown events that drive economic and social outcomes across the year.
Project overview
The brief was to develop a detailed events strategy to support, develop and attract events that are fitting to the character and aspirations of the region.
The plan was required to:
provide a robust and transparent decision-making framework to support Council’s process of event assessment and support
identify key target areas for growth
provide a framework to attract, support and develop events across the region including sponsorship and a process for bidding for events
identify opportunities to establish a balanced year-round event calendar (activate a variety of locations across the city, activate all seasons, and offer a variety of event types)
identify how to leverage events to increase ROI deliverables, including benchmark data and evaluation metrics for events
provide an implementation plan (3-5 years)
The strategy reflects the culmination of desktop review, stakeholder engagement and analysis of Penrith’s event strengths, challenges, opportunities, current event portfolio, and performance relative to competitor destinations.
These supporting elements were developed to ensure the strategy can be effectively activated:
a. Events Assessment Tool & Event Calendar Assessment Report
This allows Council to assess future event applications based on KPIs and criteria to determine which events to support.
b. Event Planning Toolkit
A toolkit with templates for event managers on efficient event planning and management and marketing. The content was provided for use in an online portal.
Project outcomes
The regional event strategy articulated a clear vision and supporting objectives for Penrith, recommending realistic strategies and priority action areas that will drive increased visitation and yield from events.
Referee
Shelley Lee
Event Development Officer
Penrith City Council
PO Box 60
Penrith NSW 2751
0409 998 014
shelley.lee@penrith.city
www.visitpenrith.com.au
www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au
