Tour Down Under

Ms COOK (Fisher) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister inform the house about the economic benefit of the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:55): Figures just in from McGregor Tan, the research company that each year does the surveys with people who have come here for the Santos Tour Down Under, tell us that this had the biggest economic impact of any of the 17 Santos Tours Down Under so far, with an economic benefit to the state of $47.9 million—that is $2 million up on last year's event. It is interesting to go back to 2007 when the economic impact was $11.5 million. Back then the attendance was 357,000; this year the attendance was a record 786,022. That is great news for the state and for all those people who are in the regions where the stages of the tour go through.

The editorial media coverage also climbed significantly, up nearly 25 million on last year, with 194 million. We had 37,370 event-specific visitors to the state, so 37,370 people came into the state and that is terrific. Not only is it a great economic boost for South Australia but it is also a terrific event for the people of South Australia, and I know that, being in the last week of the school holidays, if you have the kids running around under your feet, it is great to take them out to an event that is free, that promotes healthy living and adds so much colour and vibrancy. Indeed, what we have been doing is not just running a bike race, we are trying to improve on all the things around this great bike race.

This year we saw the introduction of family days. We have the Subaru Tour Tracker which was downloaded by about 21,000 people which allowed people anywhere in the world to follow the race live so that you could actually see the different positions of all the competitors in the race. This event is not only great for South Australia in terms of that week of festivities, but it showcases our wonderful wine regions, our hills and our beaches to a worldwide audience that is huge.

One of the new events that we had this year was the Santos Women's Tour. I would like to thank the member for Ashford for her continual commitment and urging us to make sure that we have more women's racing as part of the Santos Tour Down Under. Like the member for Ashford, I am also a keen advocate for women's sport. It was great to see the Santos Women's Tour here, particularly the finish at Victoria Park where they had a crowd of about 4,000. Congratulations to the winner of that race, Valentina Scandolara, from the Orica-AIS team. She was certainly delighted with the welcome that she received here in South Australia.

Getting back to the people who line the route and cheer on all these riders, including Cadel Evans in his last race, I should mention people like the Serjeant-at-Arms, David, and his partner, Kim, and their friends Julie and Leigh, who I know were down there on the esplanade at Port Willunga with their 'Farewell Cadel' signs. Those sorts of scenes were repeated right around South Australia. This is an event that is dear to the hearts of all South Australians. We are in there working hard on our relationships with the world governing body, the UCI. The head of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, is a very good friend of ours and we will continue to work with them to make sure that the future of the Santos Tour Down Under, which we have in the bag for next year, continues well on past 2017.