WITH about 1,000 people in town across the weekend for the annual Coota Beach Volleyball carnival, and 84 teams competing, the economic benefits of the event for the town are wide-ranging.
Eight hundred and sixty competitors participated in the carnival across the weekend.
Over its decade of existence it is conservatively estimated the carnival has directly injected more than $1 million into the local economy.
Carnival organiser Simon Sutherland said when he dreamt up the carnival ten years ago the economic benefits to Cootamundra were secondary.
He said his main focus involved putting Cootamundra on the map and attracting people to town.
He encouraged others to think outside the square and not be afraid to run with their ideas for promoting Cootamundra.
“Don’t be afraid to take a risk,” he said.
It is estimated about 100 of the players across the weekend were from out of town, not counting those former Cootamundra residents who returned ‘home’ for the event.
Coota Beach Volleyball has become such a popular institution some former residents who may not return to town for Christmas visit for the volleyball
weekend.
Fourteen entire teams visited Cootamundra to be part of the carnival.
Accommodation venues in town prospered across the weekend with most motels booked out, and those which were not, close to capacity.
Local licenced premises also benefited from the weekend, with three of the towns pubs and clubs taking advantage of the extra people in town and staying open late.
The Cootamundra Hotel traded until 3am over the weekend and the Globe Hotel and the Cootamundra Ex Services Club were open until 2am.
Cootamundra Ex Services Club manager Greg Bruce said the club had one of its best weekends in a long time, with 330 tickets sold to a Pink tribute show which booked out the auditorium and plenty of people mingling in the downstairs
area.
“We appreciate the organisations such as the Coota Beach Volleyball committee who do the hard yards in organising these events and the whole town reaps the rewards,” Mr Bruce said.
The carnival has gone from strength to strength over its decade of existence, growing each year, and bringing huge economic benefits to Cootamundra.
Committee member Matt Van Kerk Oerle, who also runs the Cootamundra Visitor Information Centre, said amongst the out of town teams were groups from Dubbo, Parkes, Canberra, Wagga, Temora and players from Victoria and Queensland.
He said a number of out of town players also brought family and friends to Cootamundra with them to enjoy the carnival atmosphere.
The weekend provided a great opportunity to showcase Cootamundra at its best, with Mother Nature playing her part.
After an extremely wet weekend the weekend before, the sun shone on the Coota Beach Volleyball carnival with top temperatures of 29.5 degrees and
32.7 degrees on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Email a friend