The Grand National is really, really good for business

The Grand National puts all eyes firmly on the North West of England, year after year. In fact, the Aintree racecourse event actually affects the area so much that in 2011, it was chosen as the Regional Tourism Event of the Year. It’s quite clearly a staple in the British calendar, but it’s so important as a local one, too. It’s hosted at Aintree, which means a massive boost in visitors. Let’s take a closer look at exactly how good it is for the local economy.

What’s The Big Deal?

In order to understand the impact it has on local businesses, particularly in Liverpool and its surrounding areas, it helps to know a little more about just how massive this event actually is. According to the infographic below, the whole three-day event attracts over 150,000 people, with 77,000 on the actual main day itself. Much of the revenue this annual event brings in is due to members of the public eager to place a bet on the races, whether it is out of custom or in an effort to win money – in reality, probably a combination of the two. 500 million people or more are estimated to participate. If you’re new to betting on horse racing, you can get UK horse racing betting news for the best tips and guides. After all, it helps to know what you’re talking about when there’s so much at stake.

Who’s Getting The Benefits?

Local businesses benefit, as does the tourism industry as a whole. Local hotels are obviously full to the brim because over half of all attendees of the event come from outside of the area. In the same vein, taxi services are kept incredibly busy, often at times of the day where they’d usually be quieter. Restaurants are full, and local museums and places of interest are packed out.  There’s also a huge amount of sponsorship poured into the event from international brands as well as local names, all eager to be associated with such an income-generating event.

But it’s smaller businesses who benefit, too. We spoke to one beautician from the Liverpool area, who told us that her busiest time of the year is over the Grand National, particularly because Ladies Day encourages women to come out dressed to the nines in their droves. Yes, this period is often official bigger than Christmas for the make-up artists, hairdressers, nail techs, and of course, fake tan specialists of the area. Clothing stores – both big and small – see an increase in sales leading up to the event.

In a wider sense, the horse racing economy generates almost three and a half billion pounds per year, according to a Deloitte report. This comes from a variety of sources, such as attending races, betting and tourism. In fact, 1.1 billion of this comes from core industry expenditure, whilst the rest comes from indirect and induced expenditure, such as benefits to local areas. It’s fantastic that Northern cities are getting a slice of that pie.

What Else Does It Do For Merseyside?

Whilst businesses are getting a direct impact as a result of an increase in people coming to the area itself, there are many other ways in which all eyes are encouraged to be on the area, and therefore remind people of the vast and exciting cultural heritage of the region – just think of the incredible musical history of the Beatles, for example, which still brings tourists to descend on the museums and memorabilia to this day. Thanks to the variety of names in the music, arts and indeed sporting scenes who both attend and participate in the event, Liverpool is seen through a lens in the media which is often ignored by the rest of the country. This can only be a good thing for local tourism going forward.

Written by Ian Maine