November's New Zealand Festival of Squash, the biggest squash tournament in Aotearoa New Zealand's history, was a hit with supporters, players, and local businesses.

The post-event economic report shows the event sold more than 7000 tickets, with a visitor spend of $621,450 in the region and resulting in 4,273 nights spent in local accommodation.

New Zealand favourite Joelle King won the women's tournament, while England's Mohammed El Shorbagy beat New Zealand's Paul Coll to take out the men's event.

According to the post-event economic report, 98% of the crowd reported feeling satisfied with their event experience, and Tournament Director Wayne Werder says it showed on the day.

'The kiwi crowd was rooting for New Zealand's Joelle King and Paul Coll to take out the top spots together on home soil,” says Wayne.

'Despite only seeing half of the fairy-tale ending they wanted, the crowd was amazing. It's been 30 years since we have seen squash of this level in New Zealand and it certainly showed by the positive crowd engagement.”

Paul Coll, current Commonwealth Games gold medallist, says he was 'stoked” to play in New Zealand and have his whole family see him play for the first time.

'It was an epic experience; the energy was huge and the aroha even huger,” Paul says.

'It was such a massive win bringing this tournament to NZ. I was so stoked to play in-person in front of the whole whānau and the kiwi squash fans.”

The event was held at Trustpower Arena, and the Bay Venues team transformed the venue from the Home Show to a world-class squash court in two days, which was captured on timelapse.

Squash Bay of Plenty, with support from Tauranga City Council, carried out a legacy programme alongside the tournament.

The programme, attended by 213 students from across the region, was designed to get more rangatahi (young people) involved in the sport.

Temporary squash courts were installed so the students could learn the fundamentals of squash and practise their racket skills.

The activities were followed by a meet and greet with top-ranking players.

Following on from November's event, Tauranga squash fans have more to be excited about with confirmation of the NZ Open returning in December 2023, followed by the WSF Men's World Team Championships.

Council's Major Event Fund sponsored the event, and Venues and Events Manager Nelita Byrne says its success is a testament to how important the funding is in bringing high profile events to the city.

'The Major Event Fund is designed to attract, grow and enhance major events that add to the vibrancy and economic growth of the city – The New Zealand Festival of Squash has been a great example of that in action,” Nelita says.

'We can't wait to welcome more squash fans to the city later in the year.”

Keep an eye on mytauranga.co.nz and www.festivalofsquash.co.nz to keep up to date.