World championshp rally to give Llandudno and Conwy huge boost

Apr 14 2011 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

Cambrian Rally

THERE will be a massive shot in the arm for tourism when Wales Rally GB comes to Llandudno and Conwy in November.

The World Rally Championship will attract an estimated 80,000 spectators and will be seen by an estimated 62 million TV viewers worldwide. Up to £5m could be generated locally in revenue.

“This is wonderful news. It’s about time North Wales got a fair crack of the whip when it comes to major sporting events,” said Llandudno Hospitality Association chairman David Williams.

“Besides the hard cash benefits Llandudno will gain, there’s the effect of worldwide media coverage. Advertising like this would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

Conwy Council cabinet member Graham Rees said councillors and officers had worked hard to attract the event to the county.

The event will have a ceremonial start in Conwy in front of the castle, and two of the rally’s timed special stages will be around Marine Drive at the base of the Great Orme.

Cllr Rees commented: “The Orme is a revered and iconic location within the motor sport world and we are extremely pleased Llandudno and Conwy will play a vital part in the 2011 World Rally Championship.

“The event will bring a host of economic benefits to the area and after the success of last year’s Rallyfest, which 14,000 people attended, we are expecting visitor numbers to be very high.”

Wales Rally GB organiser Andrew Coe said the decision to start this year’s event in Conwy and Llandudno was partly due to the success of last October’s Rallyfest in the two towns, and to the cooperation of the council and North Wales Car Club who helped with its organisation.

He had also been impressed by the range of high quality accommodation in the area.

The official start of the event will be on Llandudno promenade on November 10, and he said most of the international rally stars, including current world champion Sebastien Loeb, were likely to be staying in the resort the night before.

“We looked closely at the infrastructure, and Llandudno is particularly well suited to be a host town for events of this scale.

“There will be a large influx of visitors and crew and we are hoping hoteliers will take the opportunity to maximise on this by cooperating with us to offer special rates.

“In 2009 the event was the most popular of any round of the world championship, and was seen by 62 million TV viewers in 132 countries worldwide, which puts it on the same level of importance to Wales as the Ryder Cup,” he said.

This is the first time since 1996 that the rally, which usually starts and finishes in Cardiff, has visited North Wales, and the seeds for the change in policy were sewn when some WRC competitors took part in the 2009 Cambrian Rally which starts and finishes in Llandudno.

Cambrian Rally course clerk Alyn Edwards said: “They were so impressed by what they experienced here that they took a positive impression away with them.”