An enhanced autumn events programme has attracted an estimated 3,000 visitors to the Island during September and October, contributing over £1,500,000 in spend to the Isle of Man economy.
Events and festivals are an important component of the visitor experience. They help to raise the profile of the Isle of Man, provide new reasons to visit and generate additional bed nights and subsequent visitor spend.
This year Visit Isle of Man has already supported the Manx International Classic Trial, Isle of Man Festival of Choirs, Crown Green Bowls Festival, Isle of Man Cycling Challenge, Manx Extreme Triathlon, The End 2 End Mountain Bike Challenge and the inaugural Walk the Isle of Man and International Professional Pool Tournament, which was live-streamed globally by BBC Sport.
The Island was also host to the prestigious FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss tournament which attracted visitors from around the world including America, China, Russia and India – and was attended by Grand Master and world champion Magnus Carlsen. The 10-day long event is estimated to have contributed over £300,000 in visitor spend based on the average leisure visitor spend identified in the 2018 Isle of Man Passenger Survey.
Rob Callister MHK, Political Member with responsibility for Visit Isle of Man and motorsport, commented:
‘Key to the success of the visitor economy in future years will be the growth of the ‘shoulder season’ as we look to increase visitor bed nights outside of the main summer season through alternative events and festivals. The investment into this area is evident through the number of new events we’ve seen this autumn and the consequent visitor numbers which are extremely encouraging.’
Ranald Caldwell, Non-Executive Chair of Visit Isle of Man, commented:
‘The Isle of Man provides an excellent setting for sporting, cultural and heritage events, with an enviable reputation in its ability to host large, high quality international events, evidenced by the Isle of Man TT Races. Building on the recent flurry of successful events we’ve just seen, we’re really pleased to already see a fantastic take up on a new event we have secured for autumn 2020, the Festival of Motoring, which currently has bookings for over 240 cars.
‘We look forward to working with the many organisers and volunteers who work tirelessly to put these events on for the benefit of both our visitors and residents and I would encourage more organisers to speak with the Agency about any new events they feel would support the visitor economy.’
Visit Isle of Man is always looking for new and innovative events to support through its Tourist Event Development (TED) scheme. If you are organising an event which aims to attract participants and spectators to the Island, the Visit Isle of Man events team would be keen to discuss how they may be able to help through financial assistance, marketing and promotion.
For more information on the TED scheme, please visit www.visitisleofman.com/trade/events, email specialevents@gov.im or call +44 1624 644644.
