About 3500 junior netballers, along with family, coaches and support staff from more than 80 netball associations, flocked to Newcastle, Maitland, Charlestown and Belmont at the weekend for the three-day event.

A netball-inspired economic boom was felt across the region with empty hotel rooms a rarity, if not impossible to find.

Slideshow Even the NSW Swifts, who went down to Waikato-Bay of Plenty yesterday at Newcastle Entertainment Centre, stayed at the Central Coast before the game because of a lack of accommodation in the Hunter Region.

Newcastle Netball Association publicity officer Brooke Elers said the economic injection to the region would be in multiples of $100,000.

‘‘Accommodation is the main thing but then people have to eat so they go out for dinner and buy groceries so it would be quite a large figure,’’ she said.

David Morley, the manager of Bimet Lodge in Union Street, Newcastle, said he had hosted 65 people from Fairfield and rented out apartments in Cooks Hill.

‘‘The whole town has been booked out,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s good for the town and it’s good for everyone.’’

Ibis Newcastle general manager Adam Rowbottom said 90 of his 98 rooms were booked over the past three nights to people for the netball carnival.

Parking near the National Park venue in Newcastle was a headache, but Newcastle Netball Association president Dell Saunders said collaboration with Newcastle City Council to close roads had eased the problem.

Despite parking available inside the gates of No. 1 Sports Ground, some motorists risked parking illegally, with some paying a hefty penalty.

Ms Elers said the tightly contested carnival, which showcased a high quality of junior talent, would finish today with many age division titles decided by the final game.