THE Albury Gold Cup half-day holiday has the backing of Albury Council for another four years.
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The council’s finance and administration committee last night unanimously endorsed the extension following the expiry of the agreement backing the holiday.
The council is required to make an application to the NSW government for granting a half-day holiday with an outcome expected before Christmas.
As part of the application, the council sought required feedback from the business community via the chamber of commerce.
The views of the education and banking sectors in Albury were also canvassed.
The chamber, representing more than 400 members, unanimously supported the half-day holiday, but a combined five responses from 40 letters to schools and financial institutions revealed three in favour and two opposed.
The Gold Cup is widely recognised as one of the premier country racing carnivals in Australia and last year listed status was attained for the feature race.
Partnerships have also been developed with Destination NSW, Tabcorp and Racing NSW to increase the economic impact of the event by having visitors stay longer in Albury.
This year the Gold Cup attracted nearly 20,000 people with about 73 per cent of the crowd coming from Albury-Wodonga and 27 per cent outside the region.
The estimated economic benefit of the Gold Cup is more than $12 million.