Research shows that surfing injects almost $3 billion into the Australian economy every year

It’s no secret that Australians love surfing. It’s one of our favorite pastimes, but it turns out that riding the perfect wave offers more than just the ultimate thrill: it also provides a big boost to the economy, according to new research from the Australian National University (ANU).

The researchers found that surfing injects almost $3 billion into the Australian economy every year. The research was published in Maritime policy. Co-authors Asad Yusoff from ANU and Mark Lane and Katja Verreydt from Surfing WA contributed to the findings.

“We asked participants how much they had spent on domestic travel and how often they had traveled to surf in the past 12 months, as well as how much they had spent on new boards, wetsuits and other surfing-related accessories,” said study leader Dr. Ana Manero, from ANU, said.

“Our research shows that adult surfers spend more than $3,700 per person annually.

“Based on data from the Australian Sports Commission, which shows there are more than 720,000 active adult Australian surfers, we found that surfing injects at least $2.71 billion into the economy every year.

“This is a controversial figure at best as it does not take into account overseas visitors traveling to Australia to surf or the money generated by professional surfing.”

The national survey of 569 people found that more than 94 percent of respondents said surfing had a positive impact on their physical and mental well-being and ability to deal with stress in their lives.

Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of respondents believe surfing fosters a greater sense of connection with their community.

“Although surfing is typically thought of as a thrill-seeking activity and an individual sport, it is actually a much more social activity than previously thought,” said Dr. Manero.

According to Dr. Manero, Australia’s surf beaches are increasingly threatened by a range of problems including climate change, coastal erosion, poor water quality and overcrowding.

She argues that governments have ‘overlooked’ the value of surf breaks for too long and sees an opportunity for better policies and local coastal management plans to help protect our country’s surf environments and ensure they are more resilient.

“Surf breaks are valuable natural resources, but waves only form under a very delicate set of conditions that can easily be changed by anything we do to the coast,” said Dr. Manero.

“Things like sand replenishment programs, the construction of infrastructure, the expansion of a marina can influence how waves form and how often they break.

“An earlier ANU study found that a wave near the town of Mundaka in northern Spain disappeared due to changes to the sandbank caused by dredging in the nearby river. That resulted in the cancellation of a competitive event and led to a slowdown in economic activity in the area.

“Meanwhile, the expansion of the Ocean Reef Marina in Perth, Western Australia, has resulted in the disappearance of three surf breaks by 2022. An artificial reef has now been proposed, but it would have been better to recognize the value of the natural environment . breaks in the first place.”

Dr. Manero said Australia has an opportunity to follow other countries and implement formal legal protections to preserve the country’s surfing environment.

“Unlike countries such as New Zealand and Peru, where surf breaks are recognized by national level legislation, Australian environmental laws and policies largely overlook surf breaks as valuable natural assets. Across the country, only 20 surf breaks enjoy some form of legal protection,” she said.

“This means you can essentially make a wave disappear in Australia and no one looks forward to it because these surf breaks are in a legal vacuum.”