WA's first ironman delivers massive return to taxpayers

17/3/05
Western Australia's first ironman event, held in November last year, has delivered a massive $5.2million return to taxpayers, Tourism Minister Mark McGowan announced today.
Mr McGowan said the inaugural triathlon injected over $5million in additional direct visitor spending to WA's economy - far exceeding the forecast return of $765,000.
"The Gallop Government has committed to spend $900,000 on this event over three years - $300,000 per year," he said.
"These figures demonstrate that we are receiving a very healthy return on that investment."
An independent analysis showed that the event attracted nearly 900 competitors and over 700 spectators from interstate and overseas, who stayed an average of 12 nights each.
"Local spectators had the opportunity to cheer on elite athletes from 30 countries in the first-ever event of this kind to be held in WA," Mr McGowan said.
"The feedback from competitors has been fantastic. They were really impressed with the support they received from the locals and volunteers at Busselton.
"While the research can accurately measure the direct spend by visitors, it cannot measure the sense of pride and achievement of everyone in the region - whether they were one of the many volunteers, or working somewhere that was kept flat-out serving the competitors and visitors."
International Management Group (IMG) event director Dallas O'Brien said: "For a first-time event, we were absolutely thrilled with all aspects of the race. The course is one of the fastest around, the race went really well and the support from Tourism WA, EventsCorp, the Shire of Busselton and the local community has been amazing. We are already looking forward to the next event."
The Ironman Western Australia Triathlon, which will be held again in Busselton on Sunday, November 27 this year, consists of a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km bike course and a 42.2km run to finish.
The event is run by IMG, with support from EventsCorp (a division of Tourism WA) and the Shire of Busselton. The 2005 competition allows competitors to qualify for one of 25 qualifying spots in the 2006 Hawaii Ironman world championships.
Minister's Office - 9222 9111