The four days of the 2018 Melbourne Cup Carnival delivered a record economic contribution to Victoria according to the annual economic impact study.

Australia’s major racing event produced a record $447.6 million in gross economic benefit to Victoria last year, a boost of almost 20% since 2014.

VRC chair Amanda Elliott said Melbourne Cup Week has a positive economic impact on Victoria that is unrivalled by other any other sporting event in the nation.

“The four days of Cup Week are the four most attended race days in Australia, as well as being a major draw card for interstate and international visitors,” Elliott said.

“The business of Cup Week sees a sizable dollar amount filter right through the economy to sectors such as tourism, retail and fashion, hospitality and accommodation, with many jobs created and supported state-wide.

“The VRC funds the Melbourne Cup Carnival at a cost of $55 million annually and the club strives to ensure that every Cup Week is better than the previous one.”

Data compiled by the independent agency IER found the 2018 Melbourne Cup Carnival was responsible for:

• Attendance by 73,781 interstate individuals including 66,591 event motivated attendees

• 34.3% of attendances were from interstate with 20,308 coming from overseas.

• Overseas visitors came from 31 countries, up from 29 in 2017.

• Growth in the number of visitors from North America (up 22%), Asia (up 7%), and the UK (up 6%)

• $31.3 million in commercial accommodation spending in Victoria over 251,362 bed nights.

• 7843 cruise ship passengers attended the carnival, contributing just over $10 million in value added impact

• $62.9 million in retail spending including fashion and grooming in Victoria (up 10.4% on 2017)

• $35.4 million in spending on 357,928 individual fashion items (up 9.5%), including 54,821 pairs of shoes, 49,559 dresses, 19,089 suits and 55,433 hats and fascinators

• $29.26 million in spending on meals, food and beverages; and $45.26 million on wagering.

• Employment of more than 21,000 staff and contractors working for more than 800 companies at Flemington in the lead-up and during the event

• Attracted 20 international horses, including nine from Ireland and nine from the UK.

• The Melbourne Cup was broadcast into 163 territories worldwide

• Live streamed to a global audience on Twitter for the third year, reaching 2.4 million global total unique viewers (up 50% on 2017)

• #MelbourneCup Twitter hashtag reached number one in seven countries