Festival of Glass is good news for local businesses

Businesses on the north Bellarine can expect to benefit from being part of the 2013 Festival of Glass. 

Last year's Festival of Glass attracted 6,500 people - both locals and visitors - to the Bellarine Secondary College Sports Centre in Peninsula Drive. However, many Festival visitors didn't just attend the Festival and leave. We heard from local business afterwards that many visitors also:

·       browsed the nearby monthly Drysdale Market

·       rode the Bellarine Peninsula Railway between Drysdale and Queenscliff

·       visited nearby cafes, shops and nurseries.

The result? Local businesses that were open on the day of the Festival saw significant increases in sales. We would like all local businesses to share their success.

What can local businesses do?

This year's Festival of Glass will feature significantly more exhibitors than last year's, so the Festival committee is hoping for an even greater attendance. Here are just a few suggestions for how a local business might benefit from the Festival:

·       Consider opening on February 17 between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm. An open, bustling Drysdale is more likely to attract Festival visitors. If you will be open on the day and have leaflets, brochures, etc. promoting your business, we will happily display them at the Festival.

·       Be a Festival sponsor. This will promote your business to the thousands of visitors who attend on the day and to still more people via the Festival's online promotions. The Festival is on major local tourism web sites (e.g. Visit Victoria, Destination Bellarine and Flight Centre), so people who visit those sites to plan their stay in the Geelong area see the names and logos of the Festival's major sponsors - your business could join them. Similarly, visitors to the Festival web site see the names and logos of our major sponsors - your business could be there, too. 

·       Offer a 'special deal' on the day to Festival programme-holders, encouraging them to come to your business, rather than  to any others. Consider giving a bonus to customers who also present one of your leaflets/brochures from the Festival.

Good luck - and good business!