Listing Criteria

What can be listed on What’s On Melbourne?

To list your business or event on the What’s On Melbourne website, it must meet the following criteria:

  • Located within the City of Melbourne boundary, and have a physical presence where visitors can access your business or event

  • Have destination appeal and support visitation to the city by providing a tourism or leisure experience

  • Open to the general public

  • Aligns with one of the following categories – event, hospitality, retail, attraction or hotel

Read on for detailed information and exclusions for each listing category:

Events:

Events must have a tourism or leisure focus and support visitation to the city (in-person). They should be fully confirmed (no TBC dates or venues), available for individual bookings and submitted by the organiser or authorised agent.

Sub-categories:

  • Exhibition

  • Festival

  • Entertainment

  • Food and drink (hospitality events must fall outside a venue’s regular activities and include an event element such as live music or entertainment, a guest or celebrity chef or kitchen takeover, one-off workshops or activities)

  • Market

  • Community

  • Talks and workshops (one-off events)

  • Tours/cruise events

Event exclusions:

  • Promotions and giveaways

  • Personal and professional development

  • Business events or business networking events

  • Concessions within department stores, excluding eligible events

  • Vigils, demonstrations and protests 

  • Speed dating

  • Menu specials, degustation menus or happy hours

Hospitality 

Hospitality businesses that provide a tourism/leisure experience and/or offer a unique dining experience.

Sub-categories:

  • Bar

  • Pub

  • Cafe

  • Restaurant

  • Takeaway

  • Entertainment

Exclusions:

  • Gambling, adult services or explicit adult content 

Retail

Retail businesses must be open to the general public (no appointment required) and support in-person visitation to the city by appealing to the tourism/leisure visitor.

Sub-categories:

  • Clothing

  • Accessories

  • Gifts

  • Home and tech

  • Food and drink (destination appeal)

  • Entertainment

  • Recreation

  • Personal care such as luxury day spa

Exclusions:

  • Hire services

Professional services including but not limited to:

  • Trades and utilities

  • Travel agencies

  • Real estate agents

  • Medical and allied health services

  • Massage (unless it is a luxury day spa experience)

  • Injectables and cosmetic procedures

  • Tattoo parlours

  • Beauty services (unless they have a significant retail offering)

Attractions 

Attractions must be open to the general public and be places/areas of interest that support visitation to the city by providing a tourism or leisure experience and have destination appeal.

Sub-categories:

  • Community

  • Culture

  • Entertainment

  • Landmark

  • Recreation

  • Tour (operated by a business, not self-guided)

Hotels

Hotels must have destination appeal (such as a restaurant) and offer short term accommodation.

  • Booking and website links go directly to the hotel website, or the owning operator's website

  • Booking links cannot go to Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda or other similar third-party booking websites

  • Listings will be general in nature and will not list individual room prices or other specific information that should be available on the hotel websites.

Hotel exclusions:

  • Airbnb, short-term rentals or privately operated bed and breakfasts

  • Timeshare / member only accommodation

  • Student accommodation

  • Flatshare, short-term housing or other rental providers

  • Backpackers and hostels

  • Any other accommodation or venue deemed ineligible by the City of Melbourne

Why was my listing declined?

Your listing may be declined if we can’t verify it due to insufficient information, or if there are concerns for public health or safety.

Note that all listings are subject to review and editing to meet the City of Melbourne’s guidelines. Publication of an event is not an endorsement. The City of Melbourne reserves the right to accept, decline or remove any listing at any time.

FAQ's

Return to the Listing Help page for answers to common questions about listing on What’s On Melbourne.