NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Tourism and Major Events George Souris said a record-breaking winter of major events has delivered a boost of over $100 million to the state economy.
"Last night’s Manchester United-A-League All Stars match continued what has been a bumper season of sporting events in NSW - the biggest since the 2000 Olympic Games," Mr O’Farrell said.
"For State of Origin, the Lions, Socceroos and Manchester United, we have seen more than 450,000 tickets sold, over 40,000 overseas and interstate visitors and an estimated boost of over $100 million to the economy of NSW," he said.
"Airlines and hotel operators have reported bumper bookings as a result. Hotels have experienced a 27 per cent rise in revenue compared with the same period last year.
"The Manchester United match last night was another sold out event exclusive to Sydney. And this after we saw the biggest crowd in State Of Origin and ANZ Stadium history on Wednesday night, surpassing the crowd record 83,702 set just over a week earlier at the match between the British and Irish Lions and the Wallabies.
"The NSW Government is committed to bring major events to Sydney to help grow the economy and boost job creation – this has shown we’re delivering.
"The tourists attending these major events stay in our hotels, eat in restaurants, visit our attractions and purchase at our retail outlets – that means jobs, investment and economic growth," Mr O’Farrell said.
Mr Souris said the NSW Government’s tourism promotion partner Qantas has advised in what is effectively low season for UK visitors to come to Australia, during our winter, the airline saw its numbers more than double in the week leading up to the Lions Tour.
"Qantas put on an additional 767 service from Melbourne to Sydney to accommodate for the increased number of passengers travelling to Sydney for the Lions v Wallabies match on 29 June, with the majority of passengers from the UK and Ireland," Mr Souris said.
"It doesn’t stop here, with the Bledisloe Cup kicking off in Sydney on Saturday August 17, and the NRL Grand Final following shortly after that. Last month we also announced that the Opening Series of Major League Baseball will be coming to Sydney in 2014."