Canceling of 2021’s TT Festival is a massive blow for Manx tourism

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Businesses have opined that losing the Isle of Man TT is “a massive nail in the coffin” for the island’s tourism industry.

On Monday, the Manx government announced that the 2021 TT Festival would not take place due to the current pandemic.

This is the second time that Covid-19 has halted the event which is worth almost £40m a year to the island’s economy.

Hotelier Michael George said that canceling the festival had “blown a hole” in hopes regarding the recovery of the tourism sector.

This year’s TT event was also scrapped during the beginning of the pandemic to protect “critical care services”.

In 2019, more than 46,000 people traveled to the island for the TT, spending £37.5m over two weeks.

Guesthouse owner Gillian Salmon said that 2021’s TT had been a “beacon of hope” that had been “quashed” by the announcement.

Mr. George said that the decision to cancel the 2021 event is a “devastating news” which had “blown a bit of a hole” into hopes that the tourism sector could start bouncing back to normal.

Three sustaining schemes for tourism businesses have been extended by a month to 30 April.

Government-backed loans are also available to help firms deal with the financial burden of refunding deposits.

The Manx border has been closed to most non-residents since March.

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