‘Tour de Gong’ a cycle of global exposure and local woe

A war of words has broken out among Wollongong’s retail and hospitality businesses in the aftermath of the city’s historic UCI Championships.

Fans in Wollongong on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

A war of words has broken out within Wollongong’s retail and hospitality businesses in the aftermath of the city’s historic UCI Championships, with the region’s biggest business chambers saying the event failed to attract the short-term trading boom many had expected.

With some 200,000 spectators visiting the Illawarra in the past eight days, businesses across the region were expecting a trading windfall off the back of the World Cycling Championships and the NSW government predicted it would inject up to $94m to the state’s visitor economy.

Some retail and hospitality businesses, however, say the sport­ing event was a disappointment, and organisers had not attempted to drive crowds towards retail or hospitality venues or included them in the planning.

Corrimal Business Chamber president Paul Boultwood told The Australian that feedback from businesses across the Illawarra region was mainly negative, with hospitality and retail bosses citing widespread road closures and a lack of planning as the main reason behind the trading flop.

“There was clearly a problem with promotion of this event, which many businesses are angry about, but this was not the fault of the city or its council,” he said.

“This was something that was the responsibility of the NSW government, which left it far too late to promote.”

Mr Boultwood said Destiny NSW failed to advertise the championships only weeks out from the main event. “A number of businesses have complained about receiving no publicity or support, but I think some have failed to mention they got compensation, in some cases, and often received tenders for the championships. This cuts both ways.”

The championships – one of the top five sporting events in the world – was dubbed by locals “the Tour de Gong” as the event returned to Australia for its second time in a century.

The peloton of the Men’s Elite Road Race during the 95th UCI Road World Championships.

While the championships attracted some 200 million overseas viewers, precise estimates on how many visited the Illawarra region remain unclear. Wollongong mayor Gordon Bradbery, part of the event’s planning for more than three years, said the championships provoked “a variety of responses” from the region’s business fraternity, with some “resenting that it didn’t go their way”.

“At this stage we don’t know the overall impact the championships will have on the local economy, but I understand some businesses are frustrated that it didn’t meet what they hoped for. The crowds were a little slow to build throughout the week but the city and region gained global attention … It’s been a great overall success.”

Business Illawarra executive director Adam Zarth said crowds had been clustered around the Fan Zones at Lang Park as well as the start and finish lines, with businesses further back struggling to attract ­customers because of the road ­closures.

“There were some necessary disincentives that impacted businesses further away from the action,” Mr Zarth said. “But this was the kind of marketing coverage you could not buy – the long-term implications will be huge.”