British Grand Prix brings 'great benefits' to Oxfordshire
Chris Aylett, who is the chief executive of the Motorsport Industry Association, said: "There's no question that to have the world's best and most popular Grand Prix race in the centre of motorsport valley and in this region is enormously valuable."He said fans "don't arrive for a two hour football game - motor racing takes up days, so they do stay in the area"."The economic value is absolutely outstanding," he added."It's good for Oxfordshire and from a tourism point of view, and its pretty good on the commercial side too."
Lesley Wright , from the tourist board Experience Oxfordshire, said Silverstone and the county "work in synergy" to bring in a "substantial number" of investment."We have lots of visitors coming in, staying over in hotels across the county - with many substantially booked out many months before the Grand Prix takes place," she explained.Ms Wright said many visitors were "staying longer", spending money at the county's bars and restaurants and visiting tourist attractions.She added that the annual British Grand Prix brings "great benefits into Oxfordshire".
Alongside the impact of tourism on the local area, F1 teams Haas, Williams and Alpine all call Oxfordshire home - whilst many other local firms support the four other UK-based teams with engineering support.Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali described the UK as "the heart and rock and roll of this business" during a meeting with Sir Kier Starmer earlier this week.Domenicali said the F1 industry was worth £12bn annually to the UK economy, employs more than 6,000 people and has a supply chain involving 4,500 companies.
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