AS cars poured out of town yesterday morning, local businesses were left to ponder how much money these Bathurst 1000 visitors brought into the city.
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According to Tom Murphy, the CEO of the Western Research Institute, it was a lot.
Mr Murphy calculated the Great Race resulted in a $50 million turnover for Bathurst this year.
He said this translates to $21 million in gross regional product, 260 full-time jobs or $11.5 million in household income.
On Sunday, 51,823 people passed through the gate at Mount Panorama.
Thursday saw 39,101 race fans visit the circuit, 40,640 attended on Friday and 48,375 people watched Saturday’s events.
Mr Murphy said the money brought into the city over the past week represents one-and-a-half per cent of our economy – which might not seem like a lot, but it isn’t bad for just five days’ work.
“Considering the weather, it was a pretty good result,” he said. “Bathurst would certainly feel the loss of it if we didn’t have the event.”
Mr Murphy added that about 10pc of Bathurst’s economy comes from tourism, and the Bathurst 1000 accounts for 20pc of that.
The flow-on effect from the live broadcast of the Bathurst 1000 on prime time television in the United States cannot be underestimated, Mr Murphy said.
“This will be very positive for tourism, because it could encourage more people to come here,” he said.
“It will also be beneficial to businesses for Bathurst to gain a worldwide reputation, especially in terms of investment – so there are lots of positives.
“If the event is significantly bigger next year, due to the 50th anniversary, it will provide a good opportunity to ramp it up to another level.”