Englewood Beach Waterfest Press Rlease
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
01/13/2015
The results of the Race are in! The report by Research Data Services Inc. presented to the Charlotte Harbor Visitors and Convention Bureau calculates that the economic impact of the Englewood Beach Waterfest reached $2,322,300.00. Additional data estimates 15,000 attendees were present for the National and World Championship races, 12.3% of whom were overnight visitors. Their length of stay averaged 5.2 nights with a total of 4,800 room nights in the Englewood area. Day-trippers comprised 41.4% and a whopping 46.3% were local residences. Confirmation that the races were enjoyed by a large segment of our community is affirmation that the interest and excitement offshore power boat races is locally embraced.
Heartfelt gratitude to all the sponsors who supported the vision and had confidence in the Board’s commitment. Pats on the back all around to our Friends of Waterfest and event volunteers, thank you for your hard work and good cheer. Local businesses stepped up in huge ways, such as weekly drawing fundraisers, food and drink donations, accommodations, discounts and specials.
There was print news coverage deep into the central Florida markets, and live television broadcasts in the Sarasota-Tampa market and central Missouri.
The data provided by Research Data Services Inc. does not include the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 folks who were on Dearborn Street for the boat parade and block party to welcome the Budweiser Clydesdales and racing families and teams. And delighted they were, posting on their website OPAracing.org:
“This year the OPA World Championship was hosted by the Englewood Beach Waterfest in Englewood, FL. This race site was off the hook! The town of Englewood welcomed us with open arms and gave us two days of beautiful weather to race and allowed us to crown our World Champions!”
OPA racing families from New Jersey have adopted Englewood as their southern destination, and scheduled their 2016 World Championship here already. The Waterfest Board voted yes to move forward with Englewood Beach Waterfest 2016 if the financial support of Charlotte County and Sarasota County is of a similar magnitude as the past race. While a detailed executive summary with financial itemizations will be presented to the BCC soon, it is clear that County partnerships are essential, and that their wise “investments” in the past race yielded huge economic impacts.
Elaine A. Miller
Englewood Beach Waterfest Inc. President
