Spring Carnival generates $620 million for Victoria

Victorian Premier and Minister for Racing Denis Napthine has welcomed Racing Victoria's release of the 2012 Spring Racing Carnival Economic Impact Study which shows the racing carnival generated more than $620 million for the Victorian economy.

Dr Napthine stated "the Spring Racing Carnival is a flagship event on both the Australian and international racing calendar. But most importantly, it is a growing source of employment and economic benefit to Victoria.

"The overall gross economic benefit to Victoria was $620.1 million, which is an increase of 7.2% on the 2011 Spring Racing Carnival.

"The 2012 carnival attracted more than 706,000 attendances to race meetings throughout the state and injected hundreds of millions of dollars into Victoria's tourism, hospitality and retail industries.

"The carnival again proved to be a massive drawcard for interstate and overseas visitors with more than 67,000 individuals visiting Victoria for the purpose of attending the Spring Racing Carnival and accounting for 165,000 race day attendances across the state.

"The 67,000 people who visited Victoria in 2012 for the purpose of attending the Spring Carnival is a 19.7% increase on the previous year.

"These visitors spent more than $128 million while in Victoria, including more than $35 million on accommodation and more than $13 million in the retail sector.

"This is a fantastic result that highlights the importance of co-operation between the Victorian Coalition Government and the racing industry in targeting high-value overseas racing patrons through our trade missions to China, India and the Middle East."

Highlights of the economic impact study include:

$53.39 million spent on fashion;

$35.53 million spent on accommodation;

$53.35 million spent on food, beverages and raceday dining;

$10.80 million spent on transport; and

$22.37 million spent on retail.

Dr Napthine added "racegoers boosted Victoria's retail sector by splashing out on an incredible number of fashion items to wear to carnival events. This included 66,000 pairs of shoes, 80,000 hats and fascinators and 32,000 ties."

The 2012 Spring Racing Carnival covered 115 race meetings across Melbourne and country Victoria running from 22nd September to 25th November 2012.

Country racing also enjoyed a successful Spring Racing Carnival with almost 185,000 attendances over 100 racedays across the state, an increase of 5.3% from 2011.

Racing Victoria Chief Executive Bernard Saundry said the Spring Racing Carnival was unrivalled in Australia, adding "the carnival is an iconic and integral component of the state's sporting, social and cultural landscape and a great asset to the state of Victoria."

"Our international audience continues to climb thanks to record levels of international participation in 2012, further promoting the state of Victoria and the profile of Victorian racing on the world stage."