As well as the initial lift provided to the local economy, Hartlepool’s hosting of the Tall Ships Races could provide future opportunities by showcasing the regeneration in the town. Business Editor Owen McAteer reports.

WHEN the Tall Ships Race sail into Hartlepool on Saturday it will bring with it a wealth of business opportunities.

About one million visitors are expected in the town during the four-day event to see the 70 berthed ships.

It is estimated they will spend £16m in Hartlepool and the surrounding area, providing a massive boost to the region’s economy.

But the longer-term success of the event will be demonstrated by the extra business the Tees Valley generates in the years to come as a result of hosting the Tall Ships.

When it was held in Newcastle and Gateshead in 2005 almost half of the 1.5 million people attending said it had changed their opinions of the area for the better.

Hotel occupancy figures in Newcastle and Gateshead reached 99 per cent during the event.

More than 100 Tall Ships were berthed, with 3,000 crew members from 23 countries, including countries never represented in the event before such as India and Indonesia.

Crucially, 80 per cent of visitors from outside the Tyneside and Wearside areas said they would be interested in visiting the region again, meaning repeat business for hotels, shops and restaurants.

Those people were also likely to tell others of their experiences making it more likely their friends would visit as well.

It is particularly important when you consider tourism is worth nearly £4bn to the North- East economy and employs just over 60,000 people in the region.

In the Tees Valley alone it supports 11,000 jobs and brings in £542m.

PHIL PAYNE, head of corporate services at the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, was Tall Ships manager when the event was held in Newcastle and Gateshead in 2005, as well as being involved in the organisation when it visited the city in 1993.

Mr Payne said: “If you can get people here in the first place they realise what a great place it is.”

He said the 2005 event showcased just how much the Quayside area of the city had changed into a modern leisure and business district, adding: “We felt the event brought a real focus on that area.

Because it is such an important event those taking part can use it to draw attention to themselves.

“I was on Newcastle Quayside yesterday and was talking about the number of people around.

There is a lot more life down there.

“About 1.5 million people came to Newcastle for the Tall Ships and 40 per cent of them came from outside Tyneside and Wearside.

“Their perception was that the area was better than they thought.

If you can get people to visit the area they realise what an attractive place it is and see how it is being regenerated.”

He believed Hartlepool could experience a similar long-term lift.

Mr Payne said: “A lot of regeneration has been going on in Hartlepool and around the town’s Quayside. I think it will be of immense benefit to Hartlepool, a lot of people won’t know about the town or have visited the area, but will be pleasantly surprised to see the marina and the redevelopment down there.”

Mr Payne said other areas of towns and cities had experienced a similar showcasing of their revival while hosting the Tall Ships event.

ONE example was Leith, in Edinburgh, which is a former industrial port area that has been given a new lease of life with office space, hotels, shopping and leisure facilities.

Another is Portsmouth, which hosted the event in 2002, with a number of the ships berthed at Gunwharf Quays.

Gunwharf Quays is a former Royal Navy site that in the 18 months prior to the event had been transformed into a shopping centre with more than 95 designer outlets, bars, restaurants, a cinema and hotel. It is also home to Portsmouth’s most famous landmark the Spinnaker Tower.

When the Tall Ships arrived the shopping centre had been open just over a year and was still trying to win customers.

On a Wednesday afternoon last month the centre was absolutely packed with people, either shopping, visiting the tower or eating and drinking in the bars, restaurants and cafes.

Drusilla Moody, tourism and visitor services manager for Portsmouth City Council, said: “When we went for the Tall Ships it was prior to the Gunwharf being open and part of the reason was to get the visitors down and in the Gunwharf.

“We linked the events. It made a huge difference and brought a huge amount of people here.

“It is a great springboard for bringing visitors in. For us we get a lot of visitors anyway with Navy days and the shops we have, but I think the Tall Ships, if you are a destination that doesn’t have a lot of visitors, brings them in because people come from all over, people who haven’t been before.

You have these people coming and have to make sure visitors have a good-quality experience.

“It is a real opportunity for your businesses to showcase Hartlepool and make sure visitors know what is on offer for the future.”

It is also predicted that many of those coming to Hartlepool for the Tall Ships will stay for several days and visit other attractions in the wider region such as Durham Cathedral.

Louise Davis, head of tourism and culture at One North East, said: “It is great to see events such as the Tall Ships Races attracting many visitors and having an economic impact not just in Hartlepool but right across the region.

“This event provides a superb opportunity to showcase Tees Valley and the wider region’s assets to thousands of visitors, even more so because it is the only opportunity to see the Tall Ships in the UK this year.”

Hartlepool Council believed the event would be a huge opportunity and the experience of past hosts demonstrates it is worth spending the money to organise the event.

Both Portsmouth and Newcastle found the return on investment equated to roughly £10 for every £1 spent on hosting it.

Michelle Daurat, the Tall Ships project manager for Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “This will be the biggest event Hartlepool has ever known and the arrival of up to one million people in the town brings tremendous opportunities to build its profile and reputation as a visitor destination."