Masters to pump in $20 million

A RECORD 15,000-plus athletes are en route for the Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast, fuelling a $20 million economic windfall.

Coast-based Assistant Tourism Industry Development Minister Meaghan Scanlon revealed athlete entries were up 18 per cent on the 2016 Pan Pacific Masters and she called it a “legacy of the Commonwealth Games”.

This year’s Masters events are at new or upgraded Games venues across the city including the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre, Hockey Centre and Nerang Mountain Bike Trails.

“This is a great legacy of the Commonwealth Games,” she said, adding the growth in participants for 2018 reinforced the city’s reputation as a world-leading events host.

In 2016, the Masters delivered a $19 million boost to the Queensland economy with 13,241 people taking part.

The Masters from November 2-11 will be the 11th biennial and features 43 sports. It is organised by Events Management Queensland – a major event management company wholly owned by the Queensland Government as part of Tourism and Events Queensland.

Events Management Qld also oversees the surging annual Gold Coast Marathon, which has been transformed from a basketcase into a major tourism winner.

Events Management Queensland CEO Cameron Hart said the Masters was for over 30s and allowed former champions and those who never quite made it to compete side-by-side.