INLSA

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May at the Top Gear Festival in Joburg in March 2011. Picture: Ziphozonke Lushaba

The directors of the Top Gear Festival say the R15 million the eThekwini municipality will spend bringing the festival to Durban for three years will be well spent, because the city can expect an estimated economic spinoff of more than R59m and extensive exposure this year alone.

On Thursday, the festival directors briefed the eThekwini council’s economic development committee on the projected economic impact of the event, which would be held in June.

Hannah Cabral and Jamie Graham said the Durban event was expected to be a bigger and better organised spectacle at the Moses Mabhida Stadium than its Joburg predecessor.

“We’re keeping the details under wraps for now. We have intentionally been quiet ahead of a big official launch on February 21, when all will be revealed to the media and public… It’s going to be a stunning event in Durban, and more than you can imagine,” said Cabral.

Graham said people did not have all the information on the festival, which led to the uncertainty and scepticism over the event.

“We want to put on the best event Durban has ever seen, and we want to ensure we get it right,” he said.

Cabral said the first Top Gear Festival in SA, held in Joburg last year, had attracted more than 76 000 visitors and 8 000 hospitality patrons.

She claimed that around 25 000 visitors to the Joburg event, staged at Kyalami, had been from Durban and KwaZulu-Natal.

“Using these figures, combined with the knowledge that Top Gear Festivals attract many thousands of inter-province and out of town visitors internationally, we are able to project the economic impact the event will have on Durban,” she said.

“Durban can expect around 25 000 motor racing fans from outside the city over the festival weekend. Over the two days, 25 000 people in 12 500 hotel rooms at an average room rate of R1 000 a night equates to R25m. We estimate their spending on entertainment, food and drinks at another R20m. These figures exclude money spent by service providers for the event,” added Cabral.

An expected 3 000 hospitality industry patrons are expected to spend R14m more, while the hosting of motor-related sideshows and conferences would result in a total estimated economic impact of R59m. Cabral said most of the organisers’ budget would be spent locally.

The city and KZN provincial government are expected to split the R30m bill to host the festival over the next three years.

Perfect

Questioned by committee members about the Joburg event, Graham said it had been a sell-out success. However, he said there had been problems relating to infrastructure at Kyalami and it had rained during the event.

“Moses Mabhida Stadium is going to be an incredible venue and the weather in Durban in June is perfect for such an event. We’ve also had outstanding support from the city and province,” he said.

DA councillor and committee member Nicole Graham said she was happy with what she had heard from the festival directors yesterday.

“I am cautiously optimistic now and wait to hear more,” she said.

Durban Tourism CEO Phillip Sithole said the city had the support of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the hospitality industry to host the event. - The Mercury