THIS YEAR’s Cricket World Cup was the best thing to happen to Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
A new report analysing the economic impact and benefits of the six-week event found the cup generated $1.1 billion in direct spending and created the equivalent of 8320 full-time jobs.
The spoils were shared among the 14 host cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report said that in terms of visitor spending, bed nights and attendance, the Cup eclipsed the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 Asian Cup.
“The Cricket World Cup generated two million bed nights across the two (host) countries and around $855 million in visitor spending which is great for the tourism industries of both nations,” said CWC Chief Executive Offiver John Harnden.
“When you consider the television audience of over 1.5 billion, saturation of coverage across all digital platforms and the mainstream media coverage of the event across the 14 host cities, the CWC not only showcased the best of Australia and New Zealand but enhanced the tournament’s reputation as a major global driver for economic and community benefit.”
The report also revealed the total attendance for the tournament exceeded one million people, almost 300,000 of which were unique international and interstate visitors.
Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said the report demonstrated the value and importance of backing large scale events.
“Beyond increased visitor numbers and tourism spending, these high profile events also help to
showcase our country to huge television audiences in some of our most important international
markets,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Recent statistics showed Indian visitors to Australia surged by 46 per cent during the Cup, and those from the United Arab Emirates almost doubled.
Mr O’Sullivan said by the time 2015 is over, Australia will have hosted the AFC Asia Cup, the ICC CWC, and the Netball World Championships.
“And we’ve still got the Rugby League World Cup in 2017 and the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to come in 2018,” he said.
“These are all events which typically attract international visitors who stay longer, travel further
and spend more.”
“That’s a real sweet spot for any national tourism organisation and why we’re so
focused upon developing a targeted event strategy to maximise the tourism potential and
economic return of Australia’s year round calendar of top quality events.”
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