River City Rumble delivers knockout night for Queensland tourism

Brisbane’s hero Jeff Horn is the pride of the state today – fresh from his spectacular knockout win over Anthony Mundine at Suncorp Stadium last night.

But Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the real winner was Queensland – with the latest data showing more than 26,000 people packed into Suncorp last night for an event that generated about $5 million for the local economy.

“This great Queensland win couldn’t have come at a better time. Jeff Horn galvanises the whole Queensland community and it was great to have something to celebrate this weekend,” she said.

“Estimates show the River City Rumble brought around 6000 out-of-state fans to Brisbane and in one night generated about $5 million for Queensland.

“This is a great shot in the arm for our economy and proof of the importance of major events when it comes to supporting local businesses.

“That’s why the Premier was so committed to making sure this bout took place here in Queensland.

“We couldn’t be more proud of Jeff – knocking out Anthony Mundine at Suncorp Stadium will go down as a momentous day in Australian sporting history.”
 
Former WBO world welterweight champion Jeff Horn was the slight favourite going into his bout with Anthony Mundine – holder of world titles at super middleweight, middleweight and super welterweight during an 18-year boxing career.

Horn knocked out Mundine only one minute and 36 seconds into the first round to claim a historic victory at Suncorp Stadium.

Queensland’s tourism industry delivers approximately $25 billion to the state’s economy and supports around 217,000 jobs.

The Queensland Government’s It’s Live! In Queensland events calendar has more than doubled in value over the past three years and is worth $780 million to Queensland’s economy in 2018.

“We’re ambitious. That’s why we have a target to increase the value of Queensland’s calendar of major events to $1.5 billion by 2025,” Ms Jones said.

“Jeff Horn is an amazing boxer and one of the nice guys. It was great to see him represent Queensland at Australia’s best rectangular stadium.”

For more information about Queensland’s tourism and events, visit www.teq.queensland.com

Media Contact: Jack Harbour 0419 620 447