THE Manx Hospitality Partnership has said the Manx Grand Prix Festival is a "very important contributor" to the Island's tourism industry.

It says that despite the festival not appearing to make a "tangible contribution" to the Isle of Man Government's funds it is important "in times of dwindling visitor number".

Yesterday (Wednesday) the Department of Economic Development revealed that the Manx Grand Prix Festival costs more than £800,000 to stage each year.

According to the department the event has delivered a total spend of £5.9 million in the last two years however there is still a deficit of around £369,000.

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A spokesperson for the Manx Hospitality Partnership (MHP), which labels itself as "the voice of the Isle of Man's visitor industry", said: "Although, according to the released figures, the festival does not appear to have a tangible contribution to the Isle of Man Government funds the MHP believes the Manx Grand Prix is an essential building block in the portfolio of events that make Isle of Man tourism a viable industry.

"As the department's marketing of the Isle of Man as a short break destination is mainly event driven the MHP feels that the Manx Grand Prix festival deserves to remain on that list of events as a main event attracting a high number of visitors and contributing largely to the Isle of Man brand.

"The Manx Hospitality Partnership look forward to actively contributing to the consultation and focus groups working on how to make the festival more popular.

"There is huge and growing worldwide interest in vintage vehicle events and the Manx Grand Prix is ready to be exploited as a global highlight in the vintage event calendar."

Also see: £800,000 to stage the Manx Grand Prix Festival