EVENTS WITH GRUNT
CAIRNS, get set for a bumper few weeks of sport with major events tipped to spill $10 million into the economy.
Over three big weeks, starting May 25, athletes will lace up for the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games and Ironman extravaganzas with accommodation and hospitality venues preparing for the onslaught. Cairns councillor and sport and community services chairwoman Cathy Zeiger said sports tourism in the region was taking the next step up.
FAR North Queensland will be riding high over the next few weeks, not on a sheep’s back, but on the backs of thousands of athletes.
More than $10 million is set to be tipped into the region’s coffers as the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games and Ironman circuses arrive in town.
For three consecutive weekends the Far North will be a hive of sporting activity, starting on May 25 when Cairns hosts its second GBR masters event.
“The town is really starting to come alive,” Cairns councillor and sport and community services chairwoman Cathy Zeiger said.
“Everywhere is getting booked up. Sports tourism is just amazing and I believe it is going to step up again.”
About 1500 people are already signed up to compete in the 22 sports which are part of this year’s four-day masters event, including athletics, netball, hockey and soccer.
This is an increase of more than 30 per cent from the 2015 games.
It is estimated that the event will net the city $1 million and Queensland $2 million with about a fifth of the competitors travelling from interstate or internationally.
The Cairns Airport Adven- ture Festival kicks off the following weekend at Port Douglas with the Coral Coast triathlon events, the RRR Mountain Bike Ride and the Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge all happening on June 4.
About 6000 athletes are expected to compete in the weeklong festival, which culminates in the Ironman and 70.3 events on June 11.
Ms Zeiger said competitor numbers were similar to last year, which generated $10 million for the Far North, so it was expected to have the same impact in 2017.
There were more than 50,000 visitor nights to the region in 2016 from Ironman while visitor spending totalled $8.19 million.
Ironman’s head of partnerships Oceania and Asia Jeff Gillies said direct flights to Cairns from Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan were filling fast with competitors and their families, many of whom were expected to holiday in the region afterwards.