Data reveals more people travelling to Sydney for The Everest than flying to Melbourne for the Cup
In just seven years the popularity of The Everest for business and leisure travellers has soared past the 163-year-old Melbourne Cup providing a massive boost to the NSW economy.
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In just seven years the popularity of The Everest for business and leisure travellers has soared past the 163-year-old Melbourne Cup, providing a massive boost to the NSW economy.
Data from Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller found travel bookings to The Everest were 18 per cent higher than to the Melbourne Cup for one to two day trips and up almost 50 per cent for week long business and leisure trips.
And The Everest is getting major cut through in Victoria with more than half the week-long combined business and leisure travellers to Sydney jetting in from Melbourne.
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said new big prize money races including The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf, The Golden Eagle and the Big Dance on Melbourne Cup day were bringing business and cash into NSW.
“The Sydney Everest Carnival alone generates more than $100 million in economic benefit across accommodation, retail, hospitality, fashion, grooming, food, and beverage and supports more than 2,000 full and part-time jobs,” he said.
“It is watched by more than 9.5 million viewers across Australia and in more than 66 countries internationally.
“The NSW racing industry is the largest and the best in the world but its stellar success has not happened by accident,” Mr Nicolaou said.
Racing in NSW is a $3.3 billion industry that has more than 90,000 direct participants. But Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran said racing in NSW was “becoming marginalised” until races like The Everest burst onto the scene.
“The great success of The Everest is bringing a new and younger cohort to the races on a scale we have not seen in decades,” he said.
The race has attracted a modern day record crowd in excess of 45,000 people mostly under the age of 35 to Royal Randwick. At the same time interest in racing in Victoria has been in decline.
An Essential poll recently found that just 11 per cent of people had a high interest in the Melbourne Cup and that despite a public holiday in Victoria 62 per cent of people there said they had low or no interest in the race.
Racing NSW has taken Racing Victoria to court after it uncovered a plot to form a new racing body that excluded NSW.
Much of the Victorian anger has come from the timing of new races, such as the $10 million Golden Eagle on Derby Day.
TV audiences have favoured the new product. Seven’s coverage of the Golden Eagle from Rosehill Gardens in NSW reached 1.02 million viewers nationally – an audience 132 per cent bigger than Ten’s Derby Day coverage from Victoria.
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