Empty stands to heaving crowds: How Melbourne’s major events bounced back from Covid
As Covid gripped Melbourne, major events were decimated — crowds were banned and some events were cancelled or relocated. In the years since the pandemic, they became the “spark plug” that helped reboot the city.
Victoria
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The scenes of Grand Slam tennis being played in Melbourne in front of no fans during Covid seem a world away from the current record-breaking run Victoria’s major events have had in recent years.
During Covid, crowds were banned in Victoria and some of the state’s most important major events – including the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the AFL Grand Final – were cancelled or relocated.
Despite all the Covid cancellations, Victoria Tourism Industry Council CEO Felicia Mariani said major events were the “spark plug” that helped people rediscover Melbourne.
“During Covid, Melbourne was the worst affected and major events really drove the recovery,” she said.
“When the tennis and the (Formula 1) Grand Prix returned, they provided a huge economic boost to our state but also a real and tangible emotional uplift to Victorians.”
F1 Australian Grand Prix 2021
F1 Australian Grand Prix 2025
Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos said events drew “people from all around Australia and across the globe” to deliver a big boost to Victorian businesses.
“Melbourne is undeniably the major events capital of Australia – no other city on the planet has an international Grand Slam, a Formula One Grand Prix, regular season NFL games and the NBA on Australian soil,” he said.
Ms Mariani said the state’s tourism industry had “been to hell and back through the whole Covid rollercoaster”.
“Where we are now is an testament to the enormous collaboration between the industry and government,” she said.
At Victoria’s lowest ebb during Covid, tourism spend for the 12 months to March 2021 fell to just $9.8bn but in the 12 months to September 2024 we had bounced back to $39.7bn.
Last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix had a record-breaking 465,498 motorsport fans attend the Albert Park circuit over the four days.
Australian Open 2021
Australian Open 2025
The 2025 Australian Open, held in January, broke its previous record – set in 2024 – and had more than 1.1 million tennis fans watch the Grand Slam tennis tournament.
The 2024 Boxing Day Test – between Australian and India – broke the record for the highest attended Test match at the MCG, with 373,691 fans streaming through the gates over the five days. The previous record was 350,534 and was set in the 1930s.
Boxing Day Test
Concerts
And it’s not just sport that has been bigger and better than ever here in Victoria. International pop superstar Taylor Swift had 96,000 Swifties attending each of her three concerts at the MCG, for an overall total of 288,000 fans for the Melbourne leg of her Eras tour.
Ms Mariani said more needed to be done to support regional tourism as the market had boomed during Covid travel restrictions but was fading away now Australians could travel the world again.
“Major events are important but they are the icing on the cake (for Victoria’s tourism industry), they can never become the cake itself,” she said.
Originally published as Empty stands to heaving crowds: How Melbourne’s major events bounced back from Covid
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