Since 2007, the year in which Rally de Portugal was once again part of the official calendar of the World Rally Championship, the Portuguese race has annually received the biggest names in the sport, and with them, hundreds of thousands of tourists and WRC fans.
Last year alone, the economic impact study of the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal revealed a total return of 129.3 million euros, a small part of the global contribution that the competition has made since 2007 to the national economy: 898.9 million euros. According to this report, no other events (sport or tourist) organized annually in national territory achieves this economic impact.
More than half of the value registered last year was total direct expenditure in the tourism economy in Northern Portugal, provided by fans and teams: 67.6 million euros, 2.4 million euros more compared to the previous edition.
With a value close to 1 million assistances, it was possible to estimate that residents and tourists with expenses related to the Rally de Portugal 2016 provided the Portuguese State with gross tax revenue of over 24 million euros (VAT and ISP). At local level, the 13 municipalities involved in the organization together ensured an aggregate impact of around 49.2 million euros.
The economic return of the event through the Media was also high, with an additional indirect impact of 61.7 million euros. The main international markets affected were France, Spain, Poland, Finland and Italy.
Source: ACP/Rally de Portugal