Case Studies

Background

The Arnold Sports Festival is a major sporting event and fitness expo that is held annually in the centre of Melbourne. The event attracts more than 10,000 competitors from Australia and overseas and over 60,000 visitors who attend over three days.

In a city known for its impressive calendar of events, the Arnold Sports Festival required a compelling and authoritative analysis to demonstrate the contribution that it was making to the economy of the City of Melbourne and the wider region.

Project Goals

The event organisers knew that a sports festival of this scale was having positive impacts for the local economy. They wanted to to quantify this in terms of economic contribution and support for jobs. The information would be used to promote an expanded festival and gain support into the future.

REMPLAN’s Involvement

Using the REMPLAN Economic Impact Modelling tool and Tourism Analysis module, REMPLAN worked with the event organisers to undertake detailed economic impact assessment of the event.

Results

Analysis indicated that the annual running of the Arnold Sports Festival makes a significant contribution to local economic activity and ongoing employment. On an annual basis it was estimated the 3-day Arnold Sports Festival results in a total increase in output of $21 million dollars while supporting 87 jobs in the City of Melbourne.

The Arnold Sports Festival organisers are now able to use this information to attract greater levels of support and continue to grow the event in years to come.