2021 TT Festival: Covid-19 fears force Manx government to cancel event

Next year's TT races on the Isle of Man have been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The festival, worth about £30m to the Manx economy, brings tens of thousands of visitors each year. It had been due to take place from 29 May to 12 June.

Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly said the "logical decision" to cancel the event for a second year was needed to protect residents and visitors.

Current support for affected businesses has been extended by a month.

Three schemes designed to help the tourism and travel industry will now be in place until 30 April.

Loans will be available to relieve the immediate pressure of offering refunds to those who had booked for the TT.

Ferry passengers will have the option to transfer their bookings to 2022 or apply for a full refund, a spokesman for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said.

The 2020 TT Festival was cancelled in March as the first wave of Covid-19 ripped through much of Europe.

The cancellation of next year's motorcycling festival represents another huge blow for the island's tourism industry.

The border has been closed for months to the vast majority of non-residents as the Manx government battles to prevent the island from suffering the high rates of Covid-19 transmission seen throughout much of the UK.

Mr Skelly said the decision had been taken early to "provide certainty and clarity" to everyone involved.

The races depend on thousands of volunteers, many of whom travel to the island.

Moving the festival to later in the year had been ruled out due to the "complexities and risks" of holding an event of its size outside of the usual timeframe.

An announcement over the running of the Classic TT races and Manx Grand Prix, which are scheduled to go ahead between 21 August and 3 September, will be made by the end of March.

As a result of the TT Festival's cancellation, the Senior Race Day bank holiday originally due to take place on 11 June has been moved to 27 August.

Mr Skelly said despite the progress towards a vaccine, the government could not commit to "welcoming tens of thousands of people to the island in June".

The decision did "not necessarily" mean the island's border restrictions would remain in place until then, he added.

Douglas resident Anne Rostron, whose husband Brian is a former TT competitor, said she could see why the decision had been taken, because it would be "letting everybody in" to the island.

Her friend Judith Curtis said there were arguments for and against cancelling the event, adding: "It's going to hit the island again financially, but you've got to think about the safety of the people."

James McLaren said although it would be "a disappointment", it was "better to be safe than sorry".

"It's a huge influx of people at the end of the day and with a pandemic going on I don't want a resurgence over here of Covid," he said.

"I know the TT is a big part of the tourism economy of the island, but I can't see us risking the entire economy for one event being a great idea," he added.

Michelle Rivera, who moved to the island in February, said the cancellation was "sad" as she had been "looking forward" to watching the event for the first time next year.

Ken Beilby, who regularly marshals at the event, said it would be "another blow" to the community and the economy.

"There always a shortage of accommodation anyway for people coming over - it's going to be even worse if there is no accommodation available," he said, suggesting that some businesses would not be able to survive the loss of two consecutive TT Festivals.

Peter Boussougou said making an early decision over the event was "definitely the right thing to do" as it would prevent many from booking travel and accommodation only to have to claim the money back.

Tom Baker said the cancellation could help local businesses as it could encourage Manx residents to spend their money on the island rather than travelling away to avoid the festival.

Twenty-three time TT winner John McGuinness said that although he was "not surprised" by the decision, he was "super disappointed" by it.

He said: "I'm sure we're going to miss it and I'm sure it'll be back. It gives everybody - the organisers and everybody else - time to try and make the event stronger and better."

Fellow TT champion Ian Hutchinson said the event was a "massive thing for all the teams" involved.

"To hear it's not going ahead is going to break a lot of hearts," he added.

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