The results are in from last year's Newcastle 500 event, with the Supercars shown to have generated $30.1 million for the city.
The Hunter Research Foundation has used mobile phone data, banking records and business transactions to conclude there was close to $5 million directly spent in Newcastle by event organisers, $9 million by attendees and almost $10 million in flow-on effects.
The analysis did not look at the Hunter's other local government areas, and it's believed Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie also reaped the rewards of the 3-day event.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the huge financial figures were due to an influx of visitors.
"We can confirm that just in the Newcastle precinct, above and beyond the residential population, there was 83,000 visitors who attended the event," she said.
109,000 locals brought the total participation rate up to 192,000 people.
As most visitors paid for their accomodation well in advance of the Supercars, that spending wasn't included in the HRF analysis. It's believed with that money included, the total injected into local hotels could be much higher.
"While this research means we can now quantify the economic boost for the city," the Lord Mayor said, "the advertising benefits from the phenomenal media coverage with regards to long-term tourism are harder to quantify."
However, it's believed the value of coverage is estimated at $1 million, while social media posts about the Newcastle 500 reached 630,000 users.
With figures like that, pressure is on for this year's race to prove just as fruitful.
Event Manager Kurt Saksewski said with the additional Entertain Newcastle events planned this year, it's sure to be a bonanza.
"It's fantastic the City of Newcastle is adding to the festival feel and the event itself," he said, "they're going to start at Gregson Park, Hamilton on the Thursday night with a drivers autograph session...and then on Friday night Darby Street is going to be activated with live activities down there."
This year's Newcastle 500 is happening on November 23-25.
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| Image: Supplied CoN. |
