Pope farewells Sydney as clean-up begins

World Youth Day may have officially ended yesterday, but Pope Benedict XVI has one more commitment today before leaving Sydney.

The 81-year-old pontiff will meet with 8,000 World Youth Day volunteers to thank them for the smooth running of the week's events.

Organisers say the Pope has had a wonderful time in Sydney and will be re-energised by the events of the past week.

Sydney will begin returning to normal this morning with roads being reopened and a massive clean-up getting underway at Randwick racecourse.

Workers have five weeks to turn the site of yesterday's spectacular closing mass back into a working racecourse.

World Youth Day Coordination Authority's Adam Berrry says drivers should not be inconvenienced on Sydney roads today.

"They won't see any road closures," he said.

"There's only going to be five [closures] of the 500 left and those five are all around St Mary's Cathedral where the Pope remains in residence."

The Pope will be one of tens of thousands of passengers leaving Sydney in what is expected to be one of the busiest days on record at the airport.

Meanwhile, Sydney's Chamber of Commerce estimates World Youth Day has generated more than $230 million in economic activity.

Executive director Patricia Forsythe says a wide range of businesses in Sydney benefited from the event.

She says 200,000 pilgrims visited the city during the quietest time of the year, significantly bolstering the economy.