Over 700 companies involved in the Festival.
20% Rise in UK based Ticket and Hospitality bookings
Pre Sales of tickets 32% ahead of last year.
Prize Money up 14% to €2.5million.
All signs point to a bumper Punchestown Festival as a total of 726 national, international and local businesses prepare for the five day racing and business extravaganza which kicks off next Tuesday 29th April.
As the festival was launched last night in the Palmerstown House Estate racing stars, business leaders, celebrities and Punchestown supporters gathered in advance of the event which this year will contribute €64 million to the local economy.
With strong pre-sale trends all indications are that this year’s renewal looks set to once again break the 100,000 attendance threshold for only the third time since records began. Total festival prize money is up 14% with a total of 39 sponsors supporting a prize fund of €2.5 million making Punchestown one of the most valuable sporting events of the year. The generous winnings on offer has attracted at least 17 Cheltenham and Aintree winners after the early entry closing stage with further big names due to feature as the entry process continues.
A great sign of the improving health of the Irish economy is the 12% increase in the number of hospitality packages sold for the festival. A total just shy of 15,000 will attend the social and sporting highlight as hospitality guests making Punchestown Ireland’s largest annual corporate hospitality event.
Punchestown continues to achieve unparalleled success in the UK market with further growth of 20% in overseas corporate bookings since last year. The total racegoers coming from the UK consistently adds up to just shy of 20,000 and this number looks set to increase further based on the pre-sales to UK clients.
Looking forward to the event Punchestown Dick O’Sullivan said “Year on year we endeavour to build on previous achievements and exceed the 100,000 attendance. Not only does that signify the success of our event but the impact it has on the local economy is massive. The numbers speak for themselves this year and sales show the interest is huge. We have the crowds, we have the horses what we need now is for the weather to be kind”.
The Punchestown Festival takes place from Tuesday 29th April to Saturday 3rd May 2014. For further information and ticket sales please visit www.punchestown.com or call +353 (0)45 897704.