Newcastle is set to become the first Australian stop on the World Surf League (WSL)’s 2021 Championship Tour.
In partnership with the NSW Government and Destination NSW, Newcastle has secured the April event at Merewether Beach which will see 52 of the worlds best surfers visit the city.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes is excited for the WSL event which will provide a massive boost to the tourism sector, showcasing Newcastle to an audience of more than 10M viewers and bringing an estimated benefit of $15M to the economy.
“The event will bring a major influx of competitors, media representatives, event officials and fans to our city throughout April,” Cr Nelmes said.
“It’s been wonderful to work collaboratively with the NSW Government, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres to attract the premier international world surfing league event back to NSW and Newcastle.
“Their support and advocacy were vital as we worked alongside the great team at Destination NSW to secure what is a massive coup for our state and our city, and we thank them for their expertise and assistance.”
The City of Newcastle was involved in the establishment of Surfest in 1985, which at the time was the world’s richest professional surfing event.
In the last decade, Newcastle has also embraced various Australian and international events across different sporting categories.
“Newcastle has become a destination of choice for major sporting events, including Surfest, the recent SAANZAR Rugby Championship, Supercars Newcastle 500, the 2015 Asian Cup Football tournament, the A-League Grand Final and various rugby union and league Test Matches,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Newcastle is highly regarded in international surf circles as the home of Surfest, the largest surfing festival in the southern hemisphere, which includes WSL qualifying series events.”
Cr Nelmes said the men’s and women’s contests had a combined prize pool of $1M, with the event elevating Merewether’s surf break even further.
Merewether Beach will also be apart of an international pro-touring schedule amongst the most popular surfing destinations worldwide.
“We’re pleased the WSL event will tap into the local expertise of Surfest organiser Warren Smith and look forward to welcoming athletes and surfing fans from across Australia to Newcastle for this COVID Safe event in April.”
The WSL event will be live-streamed across various platforms and broadcast on Channel 7 and Fox Sports.
Information Source: Media Release, Feb 6, The City of Newcastle
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