Tour Down Under delivers record $63.7m boost in 2018 for SA economy
A RECORD amount of money was injected into the SA economy by this year’s Tour Down Under, which also created 774 jobs, according to a State Government report.
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A RECORD $63.7 million was injected into the SA economy by this year’s Tour Down Under which also created 774 jobs, according to a new State Government report.
Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ridgway on Tuesday released the economic impact report in the event held in January, prior to Labor’s loss at the state election.
Mr Ridgway said the event had bipartisan support and was something for SA to be proud of.
“After 20 years, it is a world-class event and continues to go from strength to strength,” he said.
“It’s a particularly good result, that we continue to attract world-class crowds and huge investment in SA’s economy.
“It’s an event that I hope continues to attract bipartisan support.”
At the state election, Mr Ridgway promised to increase a major events attraction fund and go hunting for new spectacles to bring crowds and cash to SA. On Tuesday, he said: “We’ve got some things in the pipeline, but it would be premature to announce them here today”.
Race director Mike Turtur said the long-running event was “well-established”, but organisers continued to look at ways to innovate to keep the event fresh and interesting.
“It’s a great, solid race that does very well for the state,” he said. “It grows every year, but the key to continued success for this race is to maintain the standard.
“The Tour village and all the street parties and the celebrations around the race which grow each year, we tweak them and the team presentation is a massive event before the race.
“All of these things add to the race, but the race itself has always been high quality.”
Mr Turtur cited the recent addition of the women’s Tour, including equal prize money, as a major innovation which was increasing viewer interest and participation in the sport.
Originally published as Tour Down Under delivers record $63.7m boost in 2018 for SA economy