After 10 years rooted in the Algarve, this year’s Rali de Portugal, held in the north of the country, celebrated bumper returns, generating a €127.4 million impact on the economy, for an outlay of €65 million.
A study compiled by the University of the Algarve has concluded that the event pumped €24.3 million into the economy.
Describing it as the “largest sporting fixture organised in Portugal since Euro 2004”, study coordinator Fernando Perna said the emblematic race attracted “hundreds of thousands of tourists and visitors”, with 82% of them dubbing the chosen location “good” or “very good”.
It may signify a loss to the Algarve, but in country-terms Rali de Portugal is still one of the darlings of the tourism calendar, with 13 municipalities only too delighted to support the various organisational costs.
As for its visibility and popularity, the study shows it was seen by 73.5 million and attracted visitors from all over Europe – particularly Poland, France, Finland, Italy and Spain – as well as from the United States and Canada.
Making a projection for 2016, Perna has revealed that it is already clear that “seven regions in France, six in Spain and three in Italy have flights scheduled for the north of the country” – a sign that “confirms the accentuated growth of the initiative in relation to previous editions”, he told Lusa.
