ELIZABETH Quay will deliver a “direct economic impact” of almost $3 billion within the next decade, according to a report commissioned by the Barnett Government.

The prediction comes as new figures show the CBD’s revamped waterfront attracted 6.7 million visitors in its first year, based on mobile phone pings — more than the Colosseum in Rome (4 million), the Empire State Building and One World Trade Centre in New York (3.5 million and 2.3 million respectively) and not far behind the Sydney Opera House (8.2 million) and the Eiffel Tower (7 million). In contrast to Elizabeth Quay, most of these attractions charge entry fees.

Opened with huge fanfare a year ago next Sunday, Elizabeth Quay has largely been a success but hasn’t been without teething problems – namely the 10-month shutdown of the water park because of bacterial contamination – while the development of massive land lots has not progressed as quickly as some would like.

Fresh modelling by Deloitte Access Economics for the Government shows by 2025-26 the quay will have a direct impact of $2.945 billion. This includes $2.1 billion in private investment, $348 million in tourism spending, $430 million in capital works and $48.7 million in operating expenditure.

Camera Icon Planning Minister Donna Faragher on the river, looking back towards the Quay. Credit: PerthNow, Simon Santi

Deloitte estimates Elizabeth Quay will boost WA’s gross State product by $637 million and generate a yearly average of 543 full-time direct and flow-through jobs, reaching a peak of 962 jobs in 2022-23.

Those predictions are conservatively based on an estimate of four million visitors a year, a figure that has already been blown out of the water by the first year’s tally of nearly 6.7 million visitors.

Planning Minister Donna Faragher labelled the landmark project a massive success, with WA set to reap an impressive return on investment.

“There’s no doubt there’s more work to be done over a period of time and these things don’t happen overnight, but I think that we can be really proud of the fact that in just over a year we’ve had well over six million visitors to Elizabeth Quay and there is more to come,” she said. “It has exceeded expectations and I think it will continue to do so.”

Opposition planning spokeswoman Rita Saffioti said the Government had rushed the opening, highlighting the water park disaster, and said the project was still costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“The feedback I get from the community is that they would have liked to see more value for money for the $500 million project,” she said.

Deloitte lead partner Matt Judkins said the benefits of Elizabeth Quay would far outweigh the costs in the long run and provide value to the people of WA for decades to come.

“People sitting down there in 10 years time looking back at Elizabeth Quay and the buildings that have been developed there, I don’t think anyone would be saying this was a bad thing to do,” he said.

Work on the five-star Ritz-Carlton and The Towers apartment building is underway and set for completion in 2019. The next project set to start construction, possibly this year, will be a $500 million twin-tower development on the western promenade.

Looking ahead, Ms Faragher said the Liberal Government did not support a publicly funded cable car between the quay and Kings Park, but would assess any private proposal on its merit. She said an Aboriginal art gallery was still part of stage two of the quay.

Businesses say their turnover in spring and summer has been booming, with one business – The Reveley pub – so busy it is already planning an expansion of its kitchen and back-of-house facilities.

Rohan Milne, a Perth businessman responsible for the Elizabeth Quay Carousel, said the response had been phenomenal. He believed even the quay naysayers would admit they have been proven wrong.

“I am just pumped for Perth that we’ve actually got some world-class facilities. It’s a super exciting time,” he said.

Tim McLernon, part-owner of The Reveley and the pop-up Embargo Bar, said trade after a tough winter business had been“non-stop”.

“We’re a 400-person venue and there was probably a six-week period recently when we were as busy as we could possibly be. Even if you had 100 buildings around us it probably wouldn’t have mattered,” he said.

Michael Campion, owner of Isle Voyage cafe and restaurant, said all quay traders came in with realistic expectations given there was no resident population for a consistent customer base. But he’s noticed a surge in turnover and foot traffic since the weather fined up.

A new eatery specialising in local produce and seafood, which will occupy the two floors above V Burger Bar, will be announced at the end of summer.

Sean Lee, owner of Gusto Gelato where long queues are a common feature on most sunny days, said the future of the precinct looked even brighter. “The popularity of Elizabeth Quay has definitely has taken us by surprise,” he said.

As her sons played in the water park this week, Donnybrook mother Mandy Thompson told The Sunday Times she was pleasantly surprised on her first visit to Elizabeth Quay.

“We heard a lot of negative press about the water park and the expense ... but we’re really surprised, we think it’s a really lovely space,” she said.