Gold Coast 600... Gone....???

[Downoz]

Well when the Gov gave me my money I went to the US. Thank RHS.

[formerf1champ]

gomick, what's your opinion?

http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....64&postcount=8

Purist, can you give us your opinon, from a perspective overseas?

http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....4&postcount=10

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Which economists and governments are they DRT. you have a very narrow model.

NSW Government, Qld Government, Victorian Government, South Australian Government, WA Government, Abu Dhabi Government, Bahrain Government, Spanish Government, Singapore Government, New Zealand Government, Turkish Government, German Government.

Please let us know if you wish me to keep going?

Also walk into any event management, sport management or economics university degree in Australia and when looking at events and justification for government financial support such as Economic Impact Assessment - they teach the same model.

So if this is wrong - you might want to tell this to the people who are teaching this to the masses.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Look, I doubt the Gold Coast 600 brings any international tourists into Queensland. CART did, especially during it's glory years in the 1990s when it was arguably the second biggest car racing series in the world. If you have an event that brings in international interest and tourism or simply gives a place an identity of an area to the international community , whether it be the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the Bathurst 1000, Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 or 24 Hours of Le Mans, then yes, you can justify spending taxpayer money on it.

But if you have some random street race where most of the spectators likely come from the local area that disrupts traffic for a week just for three days of racing I just doubt it's worth it. People are talking about "economic impact figures" but in the US or here in Bermuda even for events such as the Superbowl, typically qualified economists repudiate these figures, while of course delusional politicians and promoters are the ones that harp on about it.

The question to the government in Queensland should be, for what it costs, does the Gold Coast get it back in return? If so, then great, keep the event, although I doubt it does. Also, they should also ask would a world-class permanent facility that can host everything from Club Racing to Indycar/Sportscars and V8s of course be better economically for Queensland than this event.

[Purist]

In light of the steady trend of suburbanization since World War II, bringing attention back to the urban core with significant events certainly has some benefits. If people are actually excited by things happening in their communities, there is the very real chance that their spending will increase from whatever their baseline has been.

(Maybe urban renewal isn't as big a concern in Australia as it is over here, but I'm sure mass access to automobiles is causing sprawl issues to various extents worldwide.)

This leads into another point, that people will spend money they would otherwise just keep saving, to go to special events. As such, it is NOT strictly a case of redistribution by any means. So, it's not a matter of spending money in one restaurant or another, but of spending the money in conjunction with the special event, or just leaving it in the bank, because you don't NEED to spend it, and/or you haven't gotten the right "push" to feel like spending it.

It looks like there's increasing flexibility in the IndyCar calendar (longer season, acceptance of a second 500-miler), so maybe those guys can come back, and significantly ease concerns about this solely being a V8s (and therefore domestic) event.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

NSW Government, Qld Government, Victorian Government, South Australian Government, WA Government, Abu Dhabi Government, Bahrain Government, Spanish Government, Singapore Government, New Zealand Government, Turkish Government, German Government.

Please let us know if you wish me to keep going?

Also walk into any event management, sport management or economics university degree in Australia and when looking at events and justification for government financial support such as Economic Impact Assessment - they teach the same model.

So if this is wrong - you might want to tell this to the people who are teaching this to the masses.

You're partially on the mark DRT, pretty much all goats assess events along similar lines - main points are usually (in no particular order) 1. Inbound tourism 2. TV exposure to tourism markets (foreign & domestic) 3. Stimulation of local economic activity (spending) that may not have occurred without the event 4. Promote image and build positive awareness of location through all media.

The weighting of these different items varies from govt to govt, event to event, location to location depending on what is important to them at the time any decision regarding financial support is made but generally there's an element of each item weighing on the overall funding decision.

In the case of the Gold Coast 600, with a change of govt and also a new CEO being recruited for Qld Events right now, it is possible that the weighting of the different items listed above is going to change for this event.

That change MAY give headaches to the V8 fraternity or MAY actually be a great fit for them and the event is built on the current format. As the govt has committed for this year and 2013 publicly, I can't see any call being made on that to at least after this year's event, at the earliest.

[eduardo1]

One thing with the Gold Coast date, and why it was so inflexible when asked to move by IndyCar/ChampCar/CART is that mid-to-late October is a traditionally quiet time on the Gold Coast.

This is why the Qld Govt has stuck firm on the date and why they've supported the Indy/V8 event, because it stimulates the economy during its down time.

So it doesn't need to make a lot of money, but it needs to stimulate transactions to help tourist businesses with cash flow. Bear in mind the GC is one of, if not, the most tourist dependent economies in Australia, so ensuring they have consistent income 12 months of the year is a major criteria of economic management for the Qld government. So while the event may not make money, or generate as many tax receipts to competely cover the investment (and I don't know if it does or doesn't), it does have socio-economic benefits that go beyond this 2 week period.

While I've given reasons against the business model relying so much on government funding, the Gold Coast event is one that has always made sense from both a V8s and a Qld Govt perspective. (So too does Townsville for much of the same reasons - plus a few others - provided the losses are not too onerous).

[fordo]

in reply to a question asked about motel bookings for the GC600 weekend, they are way down, the prices were normal rates last year and the motel my missus works at only had 1 family staying last year for the event and it is a 15 minute walk from the circuit. The Mantra group as a whole were trying to entice people to come and stay with all sorts of deals but were still on average 25% full over the whole event. The restaurants in Surfers made very little last year as a very large percentage of the people that bought tickets only bought them for the concerts at night so did not go to the racing or dine in the Surfers area. As a local who works in Surfers, let me say that business dies for the 2 - 3 weeks it takes to set it up and clear the roads again. Locals avoid it like the plague.

The road through the 1st chicane area before they get to the Red Rooster hairpin is all dug up at the moment for the Rapid rail system and when I spoke to one of the construction guys about it being all clear in time for the race he laughed and said that they will be installing a flyover type bridge for the train that comes across from the Marriott side and down onto the road that they use for the track so not likely. If the gold Coast Council had not stalled the construction of the bridges over the Nerang River areas for the rail system then they would not have bought forward this part of the works and it would not have been started until after the race.

[formerf1champ]

I like how Mark Larkham referred to the race as "Indy" "Sorry, I meant Gold Coast."