File image: Conto’s, Margaret River. Photo: Tex Reeks.
The Margaret River Pro does more than attract the world’s best surfers, it puts the town on centre stage and injects millions of dollars into the region.
This year’s World Surf League World Championship Tour saw Isabella Nichols and Jack Robinson take out the title of the 2022 event.
But the surfers weren’t the only winners, with the coastal town put on show to a global audience.
“The Margaret River Pro attracts an average of 5,000 visitors from outside the region, generating around $6 million in direct expenditure each year, as well as generating extensive global media profiling of the destination via the online and free to air TV broadcast coverage,” A Tourism WA spokeswoman said.
“The event is well supported by the local community and delivers flow-on benefits for the South-West region.”
“They shared these experiences on their social media platforms which have a combined audience of approximately 50 million people,” the spokeswoman said.
This year, it was hometown glory for Margaret River local Jack Robinson, who is the first West Australian to take the title in more than 30 years.
The 24-year-old told WSL it was good to finally have a win while thanking his family for support.
“Man this is amazing because I’ve had so many rounds so close here so for it to all come together feels too good,” Mr Robinson said.
“I haven’t been home for so long and this was a short trip back so I’m glad to make the most of it and be back here on the land and respect the place.
Queenslander, 23-year-old Isabella Nichols claimed victory in the woman’s competition.
Although the Margaret River Pro generates on average $6 million for the local economy per event, exactly how much it made this year and how the coronavirus pandemic affected the event is unknown.
Despite the drawcard, Tourism WA, the World Surfing League, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association, Shire of Augusta Margaret River and the Minister for Tourism Roger Cook could not put an exact figure on how much the event generated in 2022.