The week-long Challenge Wanaka triathlon festival beginning tomorrow is the first in a series of seven major summer events that should keep Wanaka businesses busy and the economy booming until the end of April.
Lake Wanaka Tourism chief executive James Helmore said yesterday many athletes were arriving in town to prepare for the long-distance Challenge Wanaka triathlon next Saturday.
The festival begins tomorrow with a children's triathlon at Pembroke Park from 10am and also includes a fun run on Monday evening, swim-the-course event on Wednesday morning and Triathlon New Zealand's Contact Cup series races on Friday afternoon.
The festival's flagship event, Challenge Wanaka, and the inaugural Wanaka Half iron-distance race are next Saturday.
The festival has attracted more than 1000 athletes to Wanaka, up from the 400 who attended the inaugural event in 2007.
"That alone means there are more people in town.
"If each of those athletes brings four or five supporters, that's a big boost to Wanaka's economy.
"You only have to walk down the streets of the town to see bikes on the backs of cars and people running.
"They stay in Wanaka longer than the average visitor too," Mr Helmore said.
While the athletes might not do as many tourist activities as non-athletes, they were still shopping, eating and sleeping in the town, he said.
International media coverage during the event would be valuable for Wanaka tourism providers, especially with the attention likely to be given to top Australian female athlete Rebekah Keat, Mr Helmore said.
"People who are interested in outdoor pursuits will be interested in looking at that coverage and those are the people we want to attract to Wanaka."
Wanaka Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Stock said it would be impossible to put a figure on the economic benefit of the event until after it had been held.
However, some businesses reported the event was having spin-off benefits for them.
"They didn't get a lot out of it earlier but now it is starting to have an effect," Mr Stock said.
Mr Stock believed sports events like Challenge Wanaka and April's Contact Epic mountain bike ride would provide long-term economic benefits for Wanaka and present competitor numbers were "only the tip of the iceberg".
Some chamber members were concerned about the impact next week's street closures might have on their businesses.
Mr Stock said it was important to balance the need for competitor safety with retailers' expectations of traffic being able to go past their businesses.
Hot on the heels of Challenge Wanaka are the Rippon Music Festival (February 6); the Otago Goldfields Cavalcade Finale (February 27); the Motatapu mountain bike race and marathon (March 13); the Upper Clutha A and P Show (March 12-13); Warbirds Over Wanaka (April 2-4); and the Contact Epic Round Lake Hawea mountain bike race (April 24).
