November 10, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
Independent research has confirmed events run by the Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC) as significant economic drivers and that there is widespread community support for continued government investment in public events.
The six events run by the NTMEC include music festival Bass in the Grass, which had a record festival in 2022, Million Dollar Fish, Australia’s richest fishing competition, Red CentreNATS and Parrtjima – A Festival in Light in Alice Springs.
The 2021-2022 iterations of these six events delivered $117.7 million in expenditure in the Northern Territory, generated 276,239 visitor nights and supported the equivalent of more than 600 full time jobs.
In total, the events had 135,441 attendees, with more than 55,000 of these saying the event was the catalyst for travelling to the host region.
“We are proud to help drive such positive results for the territory, and cannot wait to deliver a range of exciting event experiences next year for Territorians and visitors,” said NTMEC’s head of events and operations Coryn Huddy.
“We are passionate about delivering unique event experiences, and pride ourselves on a diverse portfolio of world-class events that create a compelling reason for people of all ages to visit the territory.”
The research also showed that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed – 95.2 per cent of respondents – believed financial support for events by the territory government was a good investment, while more than 94 per cent of those surveyed agreed the event they attended had a positive impact on the community.
