Blockbuster year of sport to put WA on the map, but a bigger test is yet to come
If you like sport, it's a good time to live in Western Australia.
State of Origin, the Bledisloe Cup, Test match cricket between India and Australia at Perth Stadium, potential AFL finals and Roger Federer returning for the Hopman Cup are all blockbuster events coming to Perth over the next 18 months.
It's the biggest line-up of sport WA has seen, and it is set to provide another jolt to the state's recovering economy.
Sport is big business and it promotes a state in a way that few other events can.
From quokka selfies to big hits
According to Tourism WA figures, the 2018 Hopman Cup — where Federer was the main drawcard — generated more than 16,500 visitor nights and $4 million in visitor expenditure.
It also generated 963 hours of television broadcast in WA's key tourism markets valued at $41.5 million, with more than half (54 per cent) coming from international markets.
The event also attracted $42 million in additional media coverage of the state, including the famous Federer quokka selfie.
Federer's picture on Instagram attracted more than 525,000 likes and reached 5.3 million people across Facebook and Twitter.
It also appeared in 239 publications in the UK, 53 in Switzerland, 45 in Colombia, 30 in the United States, and 41 across Australia.
The NRL double-header played at Perth Stadium earlier this year was also a success.
"It brought over 3,000 people from interstate, which kind of surprised me being a week-to-week round of games, but it shows people are willing to come," Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said.
At the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at Perth Arena in February, 30 per cent of the 12,437 crowd were overseas or interstate visitors.
That's a great result in a struggling tourism market, and just a drop in the ocean compared to the number of people that will travel to Perth for State of Origin and the Bledisloe Cup next year.
Cricket-mad Indians targeted
The second Test between India and Australia at Perth Stadium in December is another big attraction.
The match will be televised to a potential audience of more than a billion cricket-mad Indians and the state is aiming to capitalise on the exposure in an emerging economy.
"We are very keen to get a direct flight from India," Mr Papalia said.
"We have lined up six airlines and, basically, we will go with the one that moves first. It may be an opportunity to let them do some sort of trial with the cricket going on."
The figures show the return on investment for sporting events is good, but the challenge is sustaining the momentum that will be built over the next 12 to 18 months.
But what will follow a blockbuster line-up?
Apart from the men's and women's World Twenty20 in 2020, there is nothing of the scale of a Bledisloe or State of Origin scheduled for Perth beyond the end of next year.
There is serious doubt surrounding the future of the Margaret River Pro after this year's shark scare and subsequent cancellation.
But Tourism WA is negotiating a three-year extension beyond next year's event, and there is the possibility of more international soccer teams playing friendlies at Perth Stadium.
"There might be some other European sides that have a significant following on the east coast of Australia that we might be able to get," Mr Papalia said.
"Whatever we do we are going to be motivated by getting interstate and overseas visitors."
Tourism WA's two-year action plan aims to make Western Australia the most desirable leisure and business events destination in the country.
Sport will be a defining factor in achieving that.
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ABC .net
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