Magazine - $20m Benefit from NZ Open

By Editor in Golf on 2nd Feb 2010 22:00

Early estimates put the economic benefits of the New Zealand Open golf tournament to the Queenstown area about $20 million, Destination Queenstown general manager marketing Graham Budd said yesterday.

The resort area was already quickly becoming known as a fantastic golf destination, boosted greatly by the huge international exposure of the three Open tournaments during the past two and a half years and by the major investment in golf courses in the area, he said.

Mr Budd said based on an estimated "direct spend" of between $7m and $8m from the 25,000 visitors in the Wakatipu region for anything from five to seven days, as well as regional day visitors, the economic benefit was expected to be about $20m.

It would be six weeks until the official Queenstown accommodation monitor was released and even more accurate numbers could be calculated. It was also difficult to isolate golf visitors from other high-season visitors, with Queenstown experiencing a strong summer so far.

"It's very hard to calculate the direct benefit, but it's a significant benefit and those figures are not surprising," Mr Budd said.

The first November 2007 tournament attracted 34,000 and a similar $20m economic benefit. However, Mr Budd said there were likely to have been a lot more locals attending that year because it was the first time The Hills private course had been opened to the public.

Destination Queenstown estimates have put the "direct spend" economic benefit to Queenstown and Arrowtown of the three tournaments at about $60m.

Queenstown was rapidly becoming known as a great golf destination, particularly on the east coast of Australia, he said.

DQ planned to work with local golf courses and other operators in the golf market to grow the market and Mr Budd said the resort would be more actively promoted as a golf destination.

"We haven't tapped into its (golf market) full potential."

Source & More: www.stuff.co.nz

Read more articles in Golf, by Editor or from February 2010.