Ratepayers are getting a good return on their $50,000 investment in the New Zealand Golf Open, Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult says.
The previous council had approved the grant, and he supported it because of the ''great publicity'' and direct economic benefits the tournament generated.
The NZ Open held at Millbrook Resort and The Hills courses near Arrowtown finished yesterday.
Mr Boult said television coverage was shown in more than 90 countries, beaming into the homes of an estimated 100 million people.
Spectators from out of town tended to have ''good-sized wallets'', which they opened for accommodation providers, tourist activity operators, retailers, eateries and wineries.
The grant money was spent on local companies providing support services.
When asked why a grant was necessary when the tournament had corporate sponsors, Mr Boult said getting enough sponsorship was ''enormously hard'' - something he could attest to as the former owner of a V8 Supercars team in Australia.
The grant was one of 14, totalling more than $330,000, made to major event organisers by the council last July.
