In May 2019 more than 1,500 BMX athletes and their support teams made their way to Shepparton for the 2019 BMX National Championships bringing the region an economic boost of more than $6 million.
Ahead of the event Council estimated more than $3.8 million would be injected into local businesses however an independent economic impact study showed an impressive $6.4 million expenditure from the weeklong event.
Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Councillor Kim O'Keeffe said this was a testament to our region and investment in stronger infrastructure that can benefit the visitor economy.
"The BMX National Championships was an exciting week for our town to host elite and amateur riders from all over Australia in our region, an opportunity which was made possible by the $635,000 redevelopment for the Greater Shepparton Regional BMX Track which included Victoria's first ever eight metre starting hill," Cr O'Keeffe said.
"Council will continue to support and promote these weeklong events which keep our economy strong and businesses busy."
The economic impact results carried out by Urban Enterprise showed accommodation to be the biggest expenditure for the region earning more than $1 million; other categories included shopping, dining out and attractions.
With 1,265 individual competitors and 3,000 additional visitors more than74 per cent of attendees travelled from outside of Victoria with the average length of stay being seven nights during the competition.
The weeklong event also saw a number of innovative visitor experience attractions occur such as the ART bike exhibition in the CBD and the Australian BMX Museum exhibition at the Shepparton Motor Museum which was a great partnership to showcase the sport and history of BMX to our visitors.
