Cam Conboy - President

THIS is the final GABN column for 2022 and we are all starting to look forward to a bit of a break and the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

I want to kick off this column with a thankyou to my fellow GABN Committee members for another 12 months of dedication to the Greater Ararat Business Community. We have worked hard to deliver value for our members, offer some great networking events and provide support through yet another year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud of what we managed to achieve and are looking forward to coming back, freshfaced, in 2023 to continue to advocate for our business community.

With only one more shopping week until Christmas it is a wonderful time to get out and support our local operators and business owners. We are fortunate to have some unique specialty stores, provedores and wineries in our region so why not support a neighbour, buy local and help to keep the Ararat economy strong.

When you are active in the CBD this week remember that Council will be conducting a ‘parking blitz’ in the lead-up to Christmas. ARCC Local Laws Officers will be patrolling from Monday 12 December to ensure that every shopper has equitable access to parking this festive season. If you see them out, please remember that they have a job to do, and a steady turnover of parking spots gives us all a chance to shop and support our local traders.

It is nearly time for the influx of visitors that invariably return to the area for the summer holidays and it is so good to see this important industry continuing to recover since the lockdowns of recent years. Sometimes it can be frustrating to have so many people arriving in town when you just want to go about your daily errands, but tourism is an important industry for the wider Grampians region. As a whole the region received approximately 1.3 million domestic (overnight and daytrip) visitors, who spent an estimated $387 million in the year ending March 2021. Whilst these figures are still lower than pre-pandemic visitation and economic results, they do highlight the exciting opportunity ahead for our destination and our local businesses.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a happy and safe festive season and we look forward to representing our business operators again in the new year.

If you have any queries for joining GABN in 2023 please contact us via email at admin@ gabn.org.au.