Melbourne attracts more sporting tourists than anywhere else in Australia

TOURISTS visiting Melbourne are three times more likely to watch a sports match during their stay than visitors anywhere else in Australia.

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground WorldCup15. Picture: Jay Town

TOURISTS visiting Melbourne are three times more likely to watch a sporting event during their stay than visitors anywhere else in Australia.

The NSW Government has declared war on Victoria’s major events calendar but research shows more than one in six visitors to Melbourne in the past year came purely to watch sport.

Further cementing the city’s status as Australia’s sporting capital, research also shows one in eight domestic travellers took in at least one match or race while in Melbourne in the past two years.

The national average was one in 20.

Sport Minister John Eren said the findings reinforced Melbourne’s reputation as one of the great sport cities in the world and explained why Sydney was trying to hijack Victorian events such as the Formula One Grand Prix.

“These findings clearly show that Melbourne is the national leader when it comes to staging major sporting events which attract tourists from across Australia and around the world,’’ he said.

In the year to February, 14.9 per cent of Melbourne tourists surveyed said they were in town on a “total sporting’’ trip.

Just 6 per cent of Sydney tourists surveyed in the Roy Morgan poll said they were there to see sport; in Adelaide it was 8.5 per cent, in Brisbane 4.3 per cent and in Perth 7.5 per cent in Perth.

Melbourne was also the most popular destination for football, rugby and cricket fans, with 8.4 per cent of respondents listing those sports as key reasons for their trip.

But as NSW Premier Mike Baird has appointed a major events team, Mr Eren said Victoria “should never be complacent”.

In the past three months Melbourne has hosted the Australian Open tennis, Asian Cup soccer, Cricket World Cup and F1 GP.

In coming months the city will host the second game of the NRL State of Origin, three International Champions Cup fixtures featuring Real Madrid, Manchester City and Roma, and the AFL season.

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