Record breaking Tour Down Under

PremierMike Rann today announced the preliminary economic impact and researchfigures for the event, which was held in South Australia from 18-25January.

“The 2009 Tour Down Under has broken almost every record for a sporting event held in South Australia,” Premier Rann said.

“Visitornumbers were doubled, the economic impact was more than doubled, andthe amount of media coverage has increased five-fold since the 2008event.

“The 2009 Tour Down Under injected a massive $39millioninto the South Australian economy, from the tens of thousands ofvisitors who travelled here from interstate and overseas. It was thebiggest event we have ever staged.

The $39million economicimpact compares to $17.3million in 2008, an increase of 125 per cent(on top of an increase of 50.4 per cent from 2007 to 2008).

“36,200people from interstate and overseas travelled Adelaide and SouthAustralia specifically to watch the event, compared with 15,100 peoplelast year,” said Premier Rann.

“The Tour Down Under has grownevery year since its inception in 1999, and with the participation ofcycling legend Lance Armstrong in 2009 we knew the results this yearwould be huge.

“Lance’s decision to make his cycling comeback atthe Tour Down Under was an incredible boost for the event and gave usthe opportunity to showcase South Australia to a global audience.

“The‘Lance Factor’ attracted many more people to the Tour Down Under, buttheir great experiences here in South Australia and their enjoyment ofthe festival of cycling will entice them back to future events,” saidTourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith.

“The Tour Down Under was front page news here in Australia andaround the world, and over $210 million of editorial media coverage hasbeen achieved so far.

“Television coverage beamed the State’sbeautiful vineyards and spectacular coastline into homes across Europe,Asia and the United States.

“The research also shows that crowdfigures were even bigger than were first estimated, with over 760,500people taking to the streets to watch the action during the seven daysof racing.”

The revised crowd figures are an increase on the initial SAPOL estimates of 743,000.

“TheTour Down Under was a massive boost for South Australia and we lookforward to another fantastic event in 2010 when the event will againkick-off the prestigious UCI ProTour calendar,” said PremierRann.