The Queensland Government has signaled its intention to continue supporting major events, announcing an extension of two motor car races until 2027.
The government announced in late September a three-year extension of its support for the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 an the NTI Townsville 500.
The agreement guarantees that Surfers Paradise and Townsville will continue to host these motorsport events which attract thousands of visitors and provide significant economic benefits for the state. Each event also attract a significant amount of corporate hospitality.
The 2024 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 is set to hit the streets of Surfers Paradise from October 25 to 27 with the 2025 dates for both destinations to be announced soon.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the contract extension was a huge win for motorsports fans and the Queensland visitor economy.
“These events will deliver more than 280,000 visitor nights and inject approximately $100 million into Queensland’s economy for each year of this extended deal,” he said.
“These Supercars events are some of the biggest on the Queensland calendar bringing visitors to the host destinations from far and wide [and] I am committed to keeping Queensland on the grid with world-class events that benefit our communities and drive significant economic returns.”
Gold Coast-based Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the races are not only great for motorsports fans “but also for our tourism operators, bars and restaurants who host the thousands of fans who visit from all parts of the world.”
Sentiments were shared in Townsville with Queensland Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals and Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart, who describes the city as “the events capital of the Northern Territory”.
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said extending support of these two events until 2027 “is a milestone worth celebrating as we build on the value of our $850 million 2024 Queensland events calendar.”
“Securing major events like these play a pivotal role in our goals to build our events portfolio to be worth $2 billion to Queensland’s economy by 2032,” she said.