Blow to regional economy as Ebor Festival cancelled

THE cancellation of the historic Ebor Festival at York Racecourse will  cost the regional economy an estimated £5m.

The event – one of the biggest in the horse racing calendar – not only disappionted race-goers but the entire York tourism industry.

More than £2.7m in prize money – a record figure – was on offer over the four-day festival and tens of thousands of people were expected to make the journey to the Knavesmire this week.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said she would be meeting with hoteliers to discuss the impact of the cancelled Festival.

She said: “It is hugely disappointing both for our visitors, for the racecourse and for the city that the Ebor race meeting has been cancelled. 

“Rainfall has been unprecedented levels for August and unfortunately that is out of our control.   We are doing our utmost to ensure that visitors are offered alternative options for their entertainment here in York.” 

She added: “Naturally it is a blow to the visitor economy figures for August and we will be meeting with our hoteliers association to assess what can be done to minimize the impact of this.’

British Horesracing Authority director of racing Ruth Quinn said races that could be saved are likely to be split between Newmarket and Newbury tomorrow and Newmarket and Goodwood on Saturday.

York’s management have yet to put a figure on what the cancellation of the meeting will cost them.

Findings published earlier this month in a report The Local Economic Impact of York Racecourse in 2007, showed that York Racecourse attracted almost 347,000 visitors from outside the city last year, more than 8% of the total inflow into York.

Subsequently, these people contributed around 15% of the increase in spending and employment as their average outlay was almost double that of other visitors.