2023 TT Race Schedule Public Consultation Now Open

Yesterday the Department for Enterprise opened a second Public Consultation for the proposed Isle of Man TT Races 2023 Race Schedule. The consultation is now live until 12 August 2022 and the Department invites members of the public both on and off Island to submit their views via the Government Portal.

This is the second public consultation for the proposed 2023 TT Race Schedule. The Department received a limited number of responses to the original public consultation in 2021. Therefore, due to the importance of this new schedule, the Department is now offering a further opportunity for the Island’s residents, businesses and other organisations, groups and associations who wish to participate, as well as off-Island race fans, to provide feedback on the proposed schedule for the 2023 TT Races before confirming the 2023 race schedule.

Ahead of the June 2021 public consultation and the creation of the proposed 2023 race schedule, the Department carried out extensive online consumer research in Q4 2019 as well as specific research, in February 2021, into the fans’ experience of travel and accommodation. This was followed up with more in-depth TT stakeholder focus groups that were held in May.

The research revealed that the existing TT schedule, the Island’s travel capacity, the Island’s accommodation infrastructure, costs factored against current economic climate, and the changing habits of customers are no longer compatible and no longer meet the needs of the event’s customers.

The Department identified that in order to deal with the issues highlighted in the research, a new TT schedule was required to unlock the event’s full potential, maximising the return on the public investment needed to deliver the event and ensure the event’s long term sustainability and viability. A copy of the 2023 Race Schedule and full list of benefits can be found here.

Rob Callister MHK, Political Member with responsibility for Tourism and Motorsport, commented:

‘The proposed race schedule for TT 2023 has been developed to complement the Island’s travel and infrastructure capacity and capability. An extensive amount of essential research and stakeholder feedback was used to define the 2023 race schedule.

‘The new schedule will give more visiting race fans the opportunity to come to the Isle of Man to experience the TT Races, lifting the shoulder periods of the historic peak by providing visitors with attractive racing blocks in two day chunks. This will in turn benefit the local economy, particularly our hospitality industry as well as the Island’s retailers, which is one of the main reasons that the Department promotes the racing.

‘We also believe that the proposed 2023 race schedule will address a number of historic issues with the current schedule. As the TT continues with the change to shorter race days, which was implemented in 2022, the demands placed on volunteers, officials, including marshals, teams, and competitors should be further reduced on any given day.

‘These proposed schedule changes represent a proactive step towards supporting visitor growth and we hope this consultation will give residents and race fans an opportunity to provide vital input into the future schedules and help us to shape the future of motorsport and tourism on the Island.’

It is the Department for Enterprise’s intention that should the proposed schedule changes be introduced, the Department will then actively seek feedback and review the performance of the 2023 schedule post event before determining future schedules, as part of the overall annual event review.

Once the Department for Enterprise public consultation is completed, the feedback will be reviewed by the Department of Infrastructure. The DOI will then publish a public notice of the draft road closure schedule in-line with the legislation within the Road Racing act, before formally ratifying it.

To respond to the public consultation, visit the Isle of Man Government Portal: https://consult.gov.im/economic-development/isle-of-man-tt-races-schedule-change-tt-2023/