Hundreds of councillors from around the state will converge on Wollongong this weekend, as the city hosts Local Government NSW’s annual conference.
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The government’s council mergers mean about 150 fewer councillors than expected will attend this year’s event, however Wollongong tourism boss Mark Sleigh said it would still be one of the largest business events ever held in the city.
“Visitors will be drinking coffee in our cafes, buying petrol at our petrol stations and buying newspapers from our newsagents,” the Destination Wollongong general manager said. “There is no business in the region that does not benefit from a rise in visitor numbers.”
He said the conference would show off Wollongong’s “diversified vibrant economy” to decision makers around the state and demonstrated the need for an upgrade to the WIN entertainment centre.
“Winning an event of this scale demonstrates that with the right infrastructure, Wollongong has the potential to play a major role in facilitating large business events.”
“An infrastructure upgrade to the WIN entertainment centre into a convention centre would make it far more attractive for event operators to bring events of this scale to Wollongong, which can only benefit everyone.”