classic car weekend what a boost for the hospitality sector

[Omobono]

1 hour ago, Max Power said:

The thing is, that we need more events throughout the year to make a difference. Three hundred cars is a great start as it probably brings around 600 people to the hospitality sector, but it's not a huge number in the scheme of things. We really need a TT or MGP sized event every week throughout the summer, and there has to be a big hook to draw that number of people here! Any ideas?

difference with quality motoring events is we have had probably 1000 people in the best hotels  , eating in the best restaurants  drinking  top quality wines   for at least 5 bed nights  all the extra income for the steam packet  ,  local petrol stations  etc for very little outlay   , unlike  what the TT and MGP is sadly  becoming a camping  motorhome and  overly priced poor value  cheese curry and chips  behind the grandstand ,and now  with massive  organisation and running costs

I did not see one person  from the government motorsport division at any  of the motoring events not even at the TT grandstand where all the participants were there twice today to start and finish with a picture in the scruffy pit lane  , no thanks for coming ,  from anyone in authority  or  even  look forward to seeing you all next year , 

sadly this is how our so called professionals appear  to run governments contribution to tourism 

[A fool and his money.....]

Just now, Tinpot said:

Did they cancel anything today?

We don't know, and as we're relying on BV to tell us, we probably never really will.

[thommo2010]

1 hour ago, Passing Time said:

Talking to some of them in Peel, and it is already an annual event. Not sure if it’s advertised enough though. It was pure coincidence we were in Peel when they were on show.

Sorry I was talking about the chilli festival

[Alanbellend]

6 minutes ago, Omobono said:

sadly this is how our so called professionals appear  to run governments contribution to tourism 

Government officials hate rallying too. Again a much more affluent demographic that the IOM has decided it doesn’t really want. 

[A fool and his money.....]

1 minute ago, Omobono said:

difference with quality motoring events is we have had probably 1000 people in the best hotels  , eating in the best restaurants  drinking  top quality wines   for at least 5 bed nights  all the extra income for the steam packet  ,  local petrol stations  etc for very little outlay   , unlike  what the TT and MGP is sadly  becoming a camping  motorhome and  overly priced poor value  cheese curry and chips  behind the grandstand ,and now  with massive  organisation and running costs

I did not see one person  from the government motorsport division at any  of the motoring events not even at the TT grandstand where all the participants were there twice today to start and finish with a picture in the scruffy pit lane  , no thanks for coming ,  from anyone in authority  or  even  look forward to seeing you all next year , 

sadly this is how our so called professionals appear  to run governments contribution to tourism 

Haha, "quality" motoring event - it was British cars wasn't it. There's a reason the world (the TT) included moved on from British vehicles over 50 years ago - the quality was shite.

Don't get me wrong, this event was good, kind of quaint, but it's got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near to a fraction of the importance the TT has to the island in terms of tourism, economics, culture, folklore and heritage.

Some people seem very easily impressed by a few road of toad hall types roaring around in 3 litre jags.

[woolley]

4 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Unfortunately, they are likely to be written off far before that point due to failure of electronic systems and short-lifed mechanical components which make repair uneconomically viable.

This is true. It's like sometime early this century the motor industry realised it had shot itself in the foot by manufacturing vehicles that no longer rusted away in short order. Great achievement, but not good for sales and the bottom line. So they introduced excessive, ridiculous over-complication with electronic systems and processors to make them "smart". Best time for buying a vehicle you wanted to last was about 2003, After the rotting bodywork, but before the computerisation really took hold.

Thread seems to have morphed into the Bus Vannin one, but on topic, the weekend's been great. Has it been a Visit Isle of Man initiative? If so they deserve some credit.

[Cambon]

2 hours ago, Tinpot said:

Exactly.

People are quick to blame government or the Steam Packet or the Airport for issues, but realistically if we had the weather Jersey have we would be just as busy if not more from April to September.

The island is great, our weather is shit/unpredictable 

I lived in Jersey for over seven years. Weather is better here. 

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, A fool and his money..... said:

Although ironically, if we got rid of the TT, as all your whinging about the event implies you would like us to, we'd have far less capacity.

Probably not.  You can't run a hospitality business on two weeks a year.  That's why so many TT fans have to stay on campsites or in homestay of with friends.  With hotels etc, profits might be down a bit, but maybe less that you think, because one problem with any sort of event is that you have to empty before it starts and you're left empty after.  So you tend to lose money at either end.

30 minutes ago, A fool and his money..... said:

I'm waiting for them to trot out the line; "the bus driver shortage is not unique to the IOM, there's a shortage of bus drivers all over the world."

[...]Now we rely on throwing thousands at people to come and live here and don't bother with training.

Are we actually attracting anyone over, though?  Except maybe more managers.  The basic rates seem to be pretty similar to the UK (even Tesco now has to pay an Isle of Man premium).  And there is a shortage generally, so why come here for rubbish pay when you can get it at home.

They always used to do a fair bit of training, but I don't remember seeing anything in the last few months.  But it's like the ATCO training - you need to take people off other duties to do the training and that's difficult if you're stretched.

[A fool and his money.....]

21 minutes ago, woolley said:

This is true. It's like sometime early this century the motor industry realised it had shot itself in the foot by manufacturing vehicles that no longer rusted away in short order. Great achievement, but not good for sales and the bottom line. So they introduced excessive, ridiculous over-complication with electronic systems and processors to make them "smart". Best time for buying a vehicle you wanted to last was about 2003, After the rotting bodywork, but before the computerisation really took hold.

There's some truth in that. The original computers in cars were to control the fuel injection when it eventually took over from carbs.

They should have left it at that. Now we have body control modules, computer controlled handbrakes and all sorts of other completely unnecessary shite.

No only is most of this crap beyond repairing by your average DIYer, it's increasingly beyond repairing by the manufacturer's own dealership, despite the hundreds of thousands of pounds of equipment they have to help them and the small fortune they charge for trying.

It's difficult to find anyone with a modern vehicle who doesn't also have a woeful story of spending a small fortune paying Jackson's or whoever to find (or more likely not find) the cause of some weird or wonderful fault.

[HiVibes]

3 hours ago, Max Power said:

The thing is, that we need more events throughout the year to make a difference. Three hundred cars is a great start as it probably brings around 600 people to the hospitality sector, but it's not a huge number in the scheme of things. We really need a TT or MGP sized event every week throughout the summer, and there has to be a big hook to draw that number of people here! Any ideas?

Cavfest, a celebration of cycling and the joy of being fucking ace.

Beegees Fest, nightly screenings of their awful cover version of Ellan Vannin, interspersed with David Cretney discos.

Deadly Bull Run with old fogies down streets of old Peel.

Juanon and on and on and on fest, a never ending festival of camp neonazi climate deniers, obligatory guest appearance of Katie Hopkins and other random old chuffs with youtube channels chunnering on the same demented shite for 3 hours at a time.

Crogga Fest - Creepy Chris rises from the dead a couple times a year to give us a one man week long bore fest.

Open a museum of 'getting felt' to celebrate the long history of pedophilia a year round attraction on it's own , complimented by a week long pedo festival perhaps run it a week before or after MGP to maintain marshal numbers.

 

 

 

 

[alpha-acid]

2 hours ago, Omobono said:

difference with quality motoring events is we have had probably 1000 people in the best hotels  , eating in the best restaurants  drinking  top quality wines   for at least 5 bed nights  all the extra income for the steam packet  ,  local petrol stations  etc for very little outlay   , unlike  what the TT and MGP is sadly  becoming a camping  motorhome and  overly priced poor value  cheese curry and chips  behind the grandstand ,and now  with massive  organisation and running costs

I did not see one person  from the government motorsport division at any  of the motoring events not even at the TT grandstand where all the participants were there twice today to start and finish with a picture in the scruffy pit lane  , no thanks for coming ,  from anyone in authority  or  even  look forward to seeing you all next year , 

sadly this is how our so called professionals appear  to run governments contribution to tourism 

I sold more beer this week than TT so says something

[Derek Flint]

8 hours ago, Omobono said:

difference with quality motoring events is we have had probably 1000 people in the best hotels  , 

I did not see one person  from the government motorsport division at any  of the motoring events not even at the TT grandstand where all the participants were there twice today to start and finish with a picture in the scruffy pit lane  , no thanks for coming ,  from anyone in authority  or  even  look forward to seeing you all next year 

Why not leave the start line/ Grandstand looking the part for the entire year, with perhaps a bit of a knock up display in the hospitality suite?

7 hours ago, woolley said:

This is true. It's like sometime early 

Thread seems to have morphed into the Bus Vannin one, but on topic, the weekend's been great. Has it been a Visit Isle of Man initiative? If so they deserve some credit.

Scenic and Classic came up with the initiative but they had a Great deal of pro-support off Tourism, DOI etc. 

5 hours ago, HiVibes said:

Cavfest, a celebration of cycling and the joy of being fucking ace.

Beegees Fest, nightly screenings of their awful cover version of Ellan Vannin, interspersed with David Cretney discos.

Deadly Bull Run with old fogies down streets of old Peel.

Juanon and on and on and on fest, a never ending festival of camp neonazi climate deniers, obligatory guest appearance of Katie Hopkins and other random old chuffs with youtube channels chunnering on the same demented shite for 3 hours at a time.

Crogga Fest - Creepy Chris rises from the dead a couple times a year to give us a one man week long bore fest.

Open a museum of 'getting felt' to celebrate the long history of pedophilia a year round attraction on it's own , complimented by a week long pedo festival perhaps run it a week before or after MGP to maintain marshal numbers.

 

 

 

 

The 12 weeks between TT and GP should be flat out with great events. Rallying, cycling, speedboats, air racing, hill climbs, triathlons, papasailing.

So much opportunity to really energise the market. Sure, tourism is a small part of GDP but it helps make the place feel busy and alive and encourages investment 

[Non-Believer]

Were/have government actually been involved with the organisation of it though? The fear is, that if they weren't but have seen that it has been a roaring success then they'll decide that they want a slice of it and any possible revenue and WILL get involved.

At that point we all know what happens.

Edited Monday at 04:55 AM by Non-Believer
Typo

[Happier diner]

52 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Why not leave the start line/ Grandstand looking the part for the entire year, with perhaps a bit of a knock up display in the hospitality suite?

Scenic and Classic came up with the initiative but they had a Great deal of pro-support off Tourism, DOI etc. 

The 12 weeks between TT and GP should be flat out with great events. Rallying, cycling, speedboats, air racing, hill climbs, triathlons, papasailing.

So much opportunity to really energise the market. Sure, tourism is a small part of GDP but it helps make the place feel busy and alive and encourages investment 

Papasailing. Isn't that illegal? 

[Alanbellend]

1 hour ago, Non-Believer said:

Were/have government actually been involved with the organisation of it though? The fear is, that if they weren't but have seen that it has been a roaring success then they'll decide that they want a slice of it and any possible revenue and WILL get involved.

At that point we all know what happens.

As you say the really worrying thing is that someone in IOM Government (DfE) saw how successful this was as a tourist feature and decides that they have to bask in reflective glory by trying to muscle in and manage parts of the next one. Then it will all inevitably go to crap like absolutely everything else they touch.