JUST under 30 000 people - 10% of them international visitors - flocked to the Goldfields region for the second annual Gauloises Blondes Moto Grand Prix, promoted by the Free State Department of Sport's Phakisa Development Corporation, last weekend.
Having spent R117m in the area last year, Phakisa ceo, Bobby Hartslief, believes that - based on market research - very much the same amount would have been spent this year.
"The hospitality industry especially - from as far afield as Bloemfontein, Parys and Kroonstad - got a major economic boost, with all the accommodation facilities in the Goldfields region being booked to capacity," he said.
He estimated that at least 515 permanent jobs would have been created within the tourism and hospitality industry since the first Grand Prix held last year, if one used the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs' claim that for every eight tourists visiting the country, one job is created.
"This event has had an enormous tourism spin-off for the Free State, with a number of sightseeing trips arranged for guests, including trips down a mineshaft, wine tasting at an underground cellar and game drives."
A music festival, Oppi Koppi, featuring a number of South African musicians was also held in Odendaalsrus over the weekend, drawing more crowds.
Hartslief said that in addition to a good number of international visitors being drawn to the region for the event, many South Africans who had never before visited the Goldfields region, had also been attracted.
(Adele Mackenzie)
