World Motocross Championship to boost economy

Published on 22 August 2018

The Wimmera continues to reap the rewards of Horsham Motorcycle Club’s major events with this weekend’s landmark 2018 World Junior Motocross Championship to provide more than $1 million to the economy.

It will be the first international motocross tournament hosted in Australia with 25 teams of five riders on the entry list.

Horsham Rural City Council Chief Executive Officer Sunil Bhalla said the event was estimated to bring $1 million from visitors staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants and shopping at our local retail stores.

“When you add the support crew involved with each team it adds up to about 500 international visitors and more than 1000 domestic fans are also expected to descend on the Wimmera,” Mr Bhalla said.

“Economic modelling based on conservative event attendance figures (3,500 day-trip visitors, 700 domestic overnight visitors and 300 international visitors) indicates a direct economic output of $1 million.  This equates to an average daily visitor spend of $224. With industrial and flow-on effects, the total economic output of the event is estimated at $1.7million.

“International riders, their families and support crew have already arrived and you will see them out and about. Many of the teams will spend eight to 10 days here.

“Most of the people coming to the Championship are visitors from Victoria and interstate who will stay around three nights in Horsham. There has been a rush on accommodation in the region and that’s great news for the local economy.

“Council invests in big events like these to bring people to our city, that’s why it’s important we continue to contribute financially to these events to keep them continuing to run in the Wimmera,” he said.

Mr Bhalla said the event was an opportunity to promote the region.

“An important feature of the World Junior Championships is they will be live streamed around the world giving us the opportunity to showcase the Wimmera’s tourism strengths and build Horsham and Victoria’s reputation as a premier Motocross destination in Australia.

“You can’t underestimate the value of an event like this for Horsham on both a national and international scale, providing nation-wide exposure for the region,” he said.

Mayor Pam Clarke said the three-day event would involve hundreds of community volunteers, with the support of Council staff.

“This event is an excellent example of the Paul Kelly lyric ‘from little things, big things grow’,” Cr Clarke said.

“The Horsham Motorcycle Club is a small not-for-profit group and over the past 20 years, this group has worked incredibly hard to raise the profile of motocross in our region and across the state.

“The club has continually upgraded the quality of the motocross track and support facilities to a level that is suitable to host state, Australian and now international events.

“It's been a huge effort. They all need to be commended,” Cr Clarke said.