A report released on Tuesday said that the economies of Australia and New Zealand benefited from A$1.1B ($843.6M) in direct spending as a result of co-hosting the Cricket World Cup earlier this year, according to CHANNEL NEWS ASIA. The report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, said that the tournament "created the equivalent" of 8,320 full-time jobs across the two economies and attracted 145,000 unique visitors to the host countries, mostly from Asia. Tournament CEO John Harnden said, "The cricket World Cup generated two million bed nights across the two countries and around $855 million in visitor spending, which is great for the tourism industries of both countries." The Feb. 14-Mar 29 tournament "attracted more than a million spectators to the 49 matches played in 14 cities, of which 20, not all involving the host nations, were sell-outs." The final, in which Australia beat New Zealand, "attracted a crowd of 93,013 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground," while a TV audience of more than 1.56 billion watched the tournament around the world (CHANNEL NEWS ASIA, 6/30).
