Cheltenham Festival crowds plummet as fans choose cheap flights to Benidorm instead

Cheltenham Festival recorded its lowest single-day attendance in over three decades on Wednesday, with just shy of 42,000 racegoers, as the festival struggles to make up the numbers amid soaring costs.

The ‘Style Wednesday’ crowd of 41,949 – a 5,000 drop from last year – was the smallest since 1993, when just 40,662 turned out, according to BBC Sport.

The crowd on Tuesday’s opening day of racing was also lower than in previous years – 55,498 compared to 60,181 at last year’s meeting.

Soaring accommodation prices in and around the racecourse, as well as the cost of tickets, travel to Cheltenham, plus food and drink prices at the venue have all played their part in driving away fans – with many choosing to travel abroad, notably to Benidorm and other Spanish holiday destinations, to get the festival experience on a smaller budget.

In the past decade Cheltenham Festival has become a huge event in Benidorm, with pubs and bars packed each year as punters take in the action 1,300 miles away from Prestbury Park. Those who make the trip take advantage of the sun – and avoid the snow in Gloucestershire this week – as well as the holiday atmosphere. An added draw is the drinks prices: a pint costs as little as €2, compared to the £7.80 racegoers must cough up for a Guinness at the festival itself – a 30p increase on last year.

Cheltenham’s chief executive, Guy Lavender, who took on the role in January this year, published an open letter to fans this weekend anticipating “more than 200,000” spectators but adding, “it’s important to mention up front that we are expecting fewer racegoers to be joining us in person this week than in recent years.”

"The decline is not catastrophic but nor are we seeing growing attendances," he added.

The crowds for St Patrick’s Thursday are expected to be closer to last year’s number of nearly 54,000, while tickets have sold out for Friday’s Gold Cup day, the festival’s showpiece, with at least 68,000 expected to attend.

It is a third consecutive drop in attendances for the meet, with the festival aiming to combat falling numbers by expanding the areas in which racegoers can drink alcohol, including more of the standing area in front of the grandstands, as well as freezing ticket prices from last year’s offering – with advance entry from £37 and tickets on the day more expensive. Advance tickets for the sold-out Gold Cup day range from £53 to £102.

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A new park-and-ride system, extra coaches and more car parking spaces, as well as increased food and drink options, have also been introduced to combat the drop in numbers. Lavender’s letter mentioned a “need to provide better value for our customers in all aspects of their experience with us”, including regarding the food and drink options, pint prices, and the queues for the bars, and suggested there would be further changes in years to come.

Even with those measures in place, and the addition of another incentive – a 20 per cent discount on a Tuesday to Thursday ticket for anyone buying a single ticket – numbers are still at disappointing lows for the festival. The first post-pandemic meet, in 2022, hit record highs of 280,627, but the years since have failed to build on that momentum as the cost of living crisis has hit consumers’ pockets.

One of the major storylines of each year at Cheltenham is how well the British and Irish trainers fare against each other. Even with Irish stables and runners in the ascendancy, several Irish journalists have told The Independent that the number of fans travelling from Ireland is down this year, citing the prices of flights and hotels in and around Cheltenham, rather than the price of festival tickets.

“We have heard both anecdotally and directly that the cost of accommodation is impacting attendance,” Lavender’s open letter continued. “It is a situation we are looking to address directly with Room To Race, launched in partnership with a local sports travel company, to provide more affordable hotel, ticket and travel packages for this festival and beyond.

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"We will define success this week and beyond by whether we are delivering unforgettable days out for our customers and improving the experience for everyone in attendance and watching on at home.”

It has to be said that numbers are still high, and many have been undeterred by the soaring costs of the experience.

Speaking on ITV’s coverage on Thursday, racing presenter Rishi Persad said, “Once the racing starts I’m pretty sure the people here don’t care about the numbers. Whilst we’re here let’s enjoy the racing.”

However, once the drama and action of the racing concludes on Friday there’s likely to be significantly more attention on the declining numbers – and how to return Cheltenham to its former glory.