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The Australian Open in January brought more than 100,000 visitors to Melbourne, generating an economic benefit of more than 200 million Australian dollars (US$151 million) to the region, Tennis Australia said on Monday.
About 7,500 of the visitors came from overseas, with the two-week attendance of 543,873 marking the sixth consecutive year that crowd figures reached the half-million mark.
Tennis Australia said the combined day and night attendance of 60,669 on the middle Saturday -- Jan. 22 -- set an all-time attendance record for a tennis event and was the first time any Grand Slam broke the 60,000 mark in one day.
The record attendence for a single day at a previous Australian Open was 56,577 in 2002.
The US Open record for combined day and night sessions was set last year at 58,438.
Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee said a resurgence in the men's game, the return of the Williams sisters in the women's draw and the success of Australian players Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik contributed to the success of the Melbourne Park event.
"You've got to say the product on the court is very good," he said. "Added to that, we've got a venue that, in terms of its location and its ability to present the Australian way of life, there's nothing (else) like it."
Most international visitors were from New Zealand, England, Sweden and Germany, but McNamee said there were increasing numbers from Japan, Thailand and China.
"They're really the growth engines for the future," he said. "We're trying to position ourselves as the biggest event in the region."
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2005)
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