Wagga economy boosted by visitors for Barry Carne, Gold Cup and Raiders NRL event weekends

Accommodation will be scarce this weekend as the Barry Carne Interstate Challenge water skiing returns to Lake Albert, and completely booked out next weekend with the Gold Cup and Raiders NRL game.

Wagga Business Chamber business manager Serena Hardwick said the events would "definitely bring more confidence" to the city's economy.

Prince of Wales Motor Inn business co-owner Greg Nicholas said accommodation businesses were having a "golden run" after a tough year.

"The premiers seem to have stopped having knee-jerk reactions to one or two [COVID-19] cases. As long as the borders have stayed open, I've been reasonably busy," he said.

Wagga might be a victim of its own success over the next few weeks, with some hotels and motels having to turn away relatives looking to attend the recruit march out ceremonies.

In other news

Wagga Airbnb superhost Glen Oakman, who lists multiple short-stay rentals across the city said he had been "booked out now for a little while".

"I'm getting a lot of phone calls from people who can't find anything in Wagga for the Gold Cup, so there is definitely a need for more accommodation," he said.

"Kapooka could look at their scheduling; every year for the last three years they have put a march out on when the Gold Cup is on and I don't know why they do it."

Wagga Best Western Ambassador Motor Inn owner Tony Neale said there was a case for spreading out "blockbuster" events as you could "fill up Wagga" with the Raiders game on its own.

"It will increase Wagga's economy as if people are not here, they aren't going to spend money," he said.

Ms Hardwick said there were "limited options" for when events and march outs could be held but "there's probably incentive for everyone to work further on that kind of collaboration".

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: