The Western Australian Pro Surf Series provided significant value to Mandurah’s economy when it attracted hundreds of spectators and participants to the city’s coastline in October.
“Mandurah put itself on the surfing map” during the series and the event has the potential to attract even bigger crowds in years to come, according to Surfing WA event manager Justin Majeks.
“I think Mandurah, for the final few days, showed what an amazing seaside town it is. The waves were pumping,” he said.
Mr Majeks said the event attracted 64 competitors, 48 men and 16 women, from six different countries.
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He said a majority of those competitors had not surfed along the Mandurah coastline and therefore travelled to the seaside city days prior to their heats to familiarise themselves with the breaks.
While the event ran for four days, Mr Majeks said most competitors would have spent an extra two days in the region.
Each visitor drawn to Mandurah for the competition would have spent, on average, between $200-$250 per day in the region, according to Surfing WA predictions.
Mr Majeks said a couple of hundred spectators visited Mandurah beaches each day across the competition.
Along with participants and spectators, there were 25 staff and officials positioned in the city throughout the series.
An unprecedented event for sport in the Peel region, the competition was the first of two World Surfing League qualifying series events which made up the WA Pro Surf Series, with Yallingup hosting the second.
Mr Majeks said the series gave WA’s new generation of promising local surfers the chance to compete in an internationally rated event alongside some of the best surfers from across Australia and throughout Oceania.
He said keeping visitors in Western Australia longer played a part in the decision to place a round of heats in Yallingup following the Mandurah competition.
“Supporting Yallingup and Mandurah towns,” he said.
“That was our thought putting the back-to-back competitions together.”
He said Surfing WA were hoping to build on both events into the future.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul.