Businesses are reaping the rewards as thousands of people converge on Port Macquarie for the 2022 NSW Senior State Cup.
Bandwagon Cafe has put on extra staff given the influx of touch football players and supporters to the region.
It was a full house at the Port Macquarie cafe with a line out the door on the morning of Friday, December 2.
Bandwagon Cafe general manager Ryan Bolus said there was a noticeable uplift in trade.
That is expected to continue across the weekend.
"The revenue is a good bonus but the biggest advantage is the extra exposure for travellers coming to Port," Mr Bolus said.
Greater Port Macquarie Tourism Association president Janette Hyde said the NSW Senior State Cup's economic impact was immediate and ongoing.
"We are exposing our area to a lot of people who may not have been here before," she said.
"There is such a ripple effect of having that number of people in our region."
The 2022 NSW Senior State Cup has hit the fields at Regional Stadium and Tuffins Lane.
NSW Touch Association general manager Dean Russell said the event always brings a diverse crowd.
"It's a really broad spectrum of participants that attend this particular event," he said.
"We are talking about around 5000 people who are coming into the town, and they range from 16-year-olds all the way through to people who are over 60."
Mr Russell said the new State Cup schedule has encouraged a greater tourism boost for the region.
"We have morning sessions and afternoon sessions now, so people who play in the morning sessions can go out and do things around town in the afternoon and vice versa if they're playing in the afternoon," he said.
"This means that they're not spending the whole time here at the stadium, they're also enjoying what the region has to offer them while they're here."
Mayor Peta Pinson said the sporting event provided an economic injection that businesses and tourist operators really needed.
She said there had been some hard times but seeing the touch football teams in great numbers returning to Port Macquarie indicated there was still plenty of money around and people were prepared to spend it.
"The touch football community is part of our community," Cr Pinson said.
The 2022 NSW Senior State Cup continues until Sunday, December 4.
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