30 Mar Alicante Port of Departure generated an impact of 71.6 million on national GDP and more than 1,200 full-time jobs

Presentation of the results of the economic report of the 2023 edition of The Ocean Race Round the World Sailing Race start

Antonio Rodes celebrates the good results of the recent edition, which broke attendance records, but regrets “the lack of commitment” to this event by the Alicante City Council and the Provincial Council. “The event is a value proposition for Alicante, not a catwalk for the mayor,” says the SPTD general manager

Alicante, Thursday, March 30, 2023.- The 2023 edition of Alicante Port of Departure of The Ocean Race Round the World Yacht Race has generated an impact of 71.6 million euros in Spanish GDP and the creation of 1,232 full-time jobs. Figures gathered around the recent start of the regatta from Alicante also reveal that for every euro spent in relation to this event, there was a return of 1.5 euros of GDP, and that for every direct job generated, 4.5 additional jobs were created indirectly and induced.

Alicante Port of Departure is a global event promoted and organized by the Generalitat Valenciana through the Department of Innovation and SPTD. During the 2023 edition, held from January 7 to 15 last January in the Port of Alicante, the public could enjoy for nine days an extensive participatory program of sports, exhibition, gastronomic, cultural, recreational, educational, musical and technological activities for all ages.

This Thursday saw the release of the economic impact report drawn up by the PricewaterhouseCoopers consultancy firm at an informative meeting attended by Richard Brisius, President of The Ocean Race, Jordi Esteve, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Antonio Rodes, CEO of Sociedad de Proyectos para la Transformación Digital (SPTD), along with SPTD’s Deputy Director, Rufino Selva.

The economic impact of Alicante Puerto de Salida, –, on the GDP of the Valencian Community, which amounted to 58.5 million euros, was also highlighted at this event. At the regional level, for every euro of total expenditure, 1.4 euros of total impact on GDP have been generated, for every euro invested by the SPTD, 11 euros of total impact on GDP have been generated and for every euro of direct impact, 2.4 additional euros have been generated indirectly and induced.

The expenditure made in the Valencian Community and in Spain by visitors, the organization and others, is 42.2 and 48.2 million euros, respectively. These figures show that for every euro invested by the SPTD, an additional 7.9 euros have been spent in the Valencian Community.

In addition, we have seen that 87% of the expenditure generated by the celebration of the regatta has been made in the Valencian Community, and that 67.4% of the expenditure in our community has been made by spectators (28.4 million euros). The sectors that have benefited most from this expenditure (42.2 million euros) in the Region are catering and retail trade, which account for 45% of the indirect and induced impact:

• • • Accommodation and catering: 15.5 million euros
    • Retail trade: 10.1 million euros
    • Business services: 5.4 million euros

In terms of employment, the event has generated 1,071 jobs and 1,233 in Spain. For every direct employee, 3.8 additional jobs have been generated in the region, indirectly and induced, and 49% of the jobs generated are due to the expenditure made by spectators on their visit to Alicante.

The total impact of the event’s tax revenues amounted to 33 million euros.
For every euro raised directly, an additional 4.7 euros were generated indirectly and induced, and 41% of the fiscal impact of The Ocean Race came from the increase in VAT revenue.

Jordi Esteve, head of the PricewaterhouseCoopers study, explained: “The Ocean Race is already a benchmark event and one of the main economic and job creation drivers for Alicante, the Valencian Community and Spain, as the figures show.

Richard Brisius, President of The Ocean Race, has indicated that “the spending and investment made by spectators, organizers and other agents involved in the regatta, such as sponsors and delegations, is a very important stimulus for the economy and the business fabric of the Valencian Community”.

In this sense, he has indicated that “we are also proud to have welcomed 2,200 school children to the educational sessions on ocean protection and 18,000 visitors to the One Blue Voice pavilion developed in collaboration with the founding partner of the sustainability program Racing with Purpose, 11th Hour Racing, an inspiring experience to join the race in the protection of our seas”.

The CEO of SPTD, Antonio Rodes, has shown his satisfaction with the balance of the 2023 edition, and has remarked that, for the Botànic Government, “this is not just business figures: for us it was very important to introduce values around the two major vectors on which pivots the economic growth and development in the world at this time, such as digitization and decarbonization, which have been present in this edition”.

Likewise, Rodes has valued the impact of this event “not only on GDP and employment, but also on the hotel sector at a time when it had a valley after Christmas, and the boost it has meant for the restoration campaign, trade and value proposition for the city of Alicante and the province of Alicante”.

In this sense, however, has pointed out that this impact “would have been much greater if we had had the momentum and collaboration of other administrations, such as the City Council and the Provincial Council, which are the institutions that, because of its proximity, should be the most interested institutions.”

“The Mayor of the city should know that The Ocean Race is a great economic development proposal for the city, not a catwalk to parade in front of 300,000 people,” said Rodes. On this point, he pointed out “it is not possible that the biggest event in the province of Alicante should have a lack of commitment from these institutions, nor is it possible that the city’s urban transformation policies should come from the Generalitat, such as, for example, the transition of the port – from a leisure and catering port to a port with a major digital economy hub – or the urban transformation of the port itself, or the City of Light, or this regatta, which will be coming soon, as you will see”.

“I trust, I want to say this positively, that the next edition will include an active participation of public and financial resources also by these institutions, and then the results of this edition will be poor in relation to the results that will undoubtedly be obtained in the next edition,” he concluded.

Milestones for a record edition

Alicante Port of Departure reached 303,000 attendees, with a daily average of 33,700 visitors, the highest figure of the five editions. There was a record number of visitors in a single day to the Ocean Live Park, with 81,118 visitors on the day of the start of the regatta.

This was the edition with the largest number and content of activities in the history of the event. The concerts were a great success, with more than 6,000 attendees per day. In addition, for the first time a program of its own was introduced in the Alicante Digital Gaming space with the participation of technology companies demonstrating the innovative capabilities of the Digital District. The technological component was also present with the initiative under development for the digitization of the Ocean Live Park.

Likewise, the greatest social and sporting participation of the sailing clubs and federation was achieved, with the participation, for the first time, of an amateur competition (Cruising and Dinghy Sailing Regatta) in the events of The Ocean Race organized by the Valencian Sailing Federation and sailing clubs of Alicante. In addition, the number of school and sustainability program activities increased, and other sustainability initiatives were undertaken, such as measuring the carbon footprint.