LAST autumn's America's Cup World Series cost Plymouth City Council £225,000 but brought economic benefits worth millions, according to a university study, writes Keith Rossiter.

Local businesses contributed another £500,000 in goods and services to the high-profile event, according to the latest research, published today.

An economic impact study by Serio at Plymouth University reveals that 140,000 people attended the nine-day spectacle on the Sound, viewing the globally televised yacht racing from vantage points on the Hoe, Mount Batten, Jennycliff and Mount Edgcumbe.

The study estimates that there were about 60,000 individual visitors as many attended more than once during the high-octane regatta last September.

Visitors are reckoned to have spent a total of £2.63million.

In addition, the organisers booked a total of 5,520 bed nights in Plymouth hotels between mid-August and the end of September. The organisers also spent an estimated £500,000 in the city, but recouped some of that through visitor spending.

In all, the event generated an estimated £9.1 million for Plymouth's economy according to the Serio report. This includes media coverage of the event worth an estimated £4.226million.

Council leader Cllr Vivien Pengelly said: "We have raised Plymouth's profile as a tourist destination on the world stage, improved people's perceptions and raised expectations of what the city can do. This is going to continue to benefit Plymouth for many years to come."

Mrs Pengelly said: "One of the most important things was the marketing of Plymouth throughout the world."

She said the organisers of the Women's Offshore World Series yacht race, launched this week, had said they were bringing the event to Plymouth because of the success of the America's Cup event in the city.

And she believed that celebrity chef Gary Rhodes had decided to open a restaurant in the city for the same reason.

"I don't want people to think Plymouth is just a dockyard town," Mrs Pengelly said.

Dave Young, chairman of the Plymouth America's Cup business task group, said: "I am delighted that we have achieved such a great result from the event and is a rich reward for the risk the council took in securing the event in the first place.

"This impact, which I think is very conservative, shows what the city can do in a true partnership." Mr Young said he believed the benefits would continue to roll out for years. "We have never had that kind of profile before," he said.

While hotels and restaurants saw increases in bookings year on year, more than 89 local businesses also won direct contracts with the America's Cup organisers.

There were two million hits on You Tube for the ACWS videos that showcased Plymouth as a waterfront destination.

Forty-five investors, including chief executives of leading developers and major environmental technology companies, visited the city to hear about what Plymouth has to offer.

Matt Cross, the city's head of marketing, admitted that some Barbican businesses had not achieved as much as they had hoped to.

He said the deal struck between the city and the organisers came with some provisions that "limited what we could do locally".

"We would have liked to extend the offer into the Barbican but we were limited by the contract with the America's Cup Event Authority. Now we have to create our own home-grown events."

Asked about the possibility of the event returning to Plymouth, Mr Cross said the council was "maintaining a dialogue" with the America's Cup Event Authority.

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