Ballarat’s Sossi says Jetstar’s international plans will hurt City’s tourism
George Sossi, the City of Ballarat’s Attractions Manager says that Jetstar’s plan to fly cut-price international routes could hurt Ballarat tourism.
Agreeing with Victorian Tourism Minister John Pandazopoulos’ view that Victorian tourism was under threat from low-cost airlines, Mr Sossi said, “We’ve known about this for some time in that it just further adds to the trend of the last three or four years of outbound travel increasing and having an impact on regional travel.”
“We’re concerned along with the rest of regional Victoria:, said Mr Sossi believing the City can counter the threat, adding, “We’re currently doing a rebranding exercise which should be complete around September”. “We’ll be trying to give people more choices, letting people know why they should come to Ballarat, and given that a lot of people have already been to Ballarat, giving them a reason to come back.”
Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the fears were unfounded, and the new routes would increase incoming tourism, saying “Jetstar’s international model will be a cost-efficient way of bringing more international visitors to Australia and people need to look not just at a possible short-term loss, but at the medium to long-term potential.”
Report by The Mole
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