The president of Turismo do Algarve has estimated that the Portuguese MotoGP Grand Prix 2022 this weekend, Friday to Sunday in Portimão, could generate a direct and indirect return of around 50 million euros for the country.
João Fernandes told Lusa news agancy, “In general terms, we have an impact that can be higher, at most, and with direct, indirect and induced values, of 50 million euros for the country, which is very relevant”,
According to that official, the fact that the Portuguese Grand Prix, the fifth race of the Speed Motorcycle World Championship, takes place on the weekend immediately after Easter, is an “additional demand factor” to “prolong the start of the high season”.
“In just the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 teams, journalists and members of the organisation we are talking about more than 3,500 people. Considering accommodation, food, travel, plane tickets and some 'pocket money', we are talking about a value of close to four million euros”, he quantified.
The expenses incurred by the “3,648 people” who are directly linked to the organisation of the event are also joined by “local suppliers”, such as “commissioners, firefighters, doctors, fuel suppliers, helicopters, direct service providers”, said the president of the RTA.
“We are talking about more than 800 thousand euros in direct consumption for local suppliers”, he added, noting that these figures “are important not only for the Algarve, but for the country as a whole”.
João Fernandes also said that “about 40,000 spectators are expected per day, a total of 120,000 entries for the three days, and here the bar is already raised to almost 28 million euros” from the International Autódromo do Algarve (AIA), in Portimão.
The RTA president also stressed that the event represents “a great showcase for the world” and provides a “reinforcement of the destination’s notoriety”, when tourism gives “very relevant signs of a recovery, already at levels above expectations” for this year.
“And the fact that this year, for example - unlike in previous editions, demand is half national and half international, also reveals a great appetite for foreign markets for the region and for this modality in particular", said João Fernandes.
The president of the RTA also expressed his wish for the “icing on the cake”, if the Portuguese KTM driver Miguel Oliveira “has a good performance, on a track he knows well, in his country”.
The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Hélder Martins, has mentioned that the coincidence of the Grand Prix with a long weekend, close to the April 25th holiday, “does not make it easy to determine what is effectively due the MotoGP.”
Hélder Martins said expects a “decent” occupation rate, especially in the areas “between Albufeira and Lagos”, which is within a radius closer to the Portimão circuit.
He declined to add figures on the occupancy estimates for the weekend, but underlined that the event “will bring a few thousand overnight stays” to the region, despite there being a “conditional factor, which is the weather, which Looks like it won't be great."
