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Volvo Ocean Race 2008

The best sailors in the world set off from Alicante for the Volvo Ocean Race

2008 saw the Volvo Ocean Race set off from the Mediterranean for the first time ever, when the round-the-world sailing challenge began in the Region of Valencia. The city of Alicante had the privilege of witnessing the departure of the boats taking part in the tenth edition of one of the world’s toughest races, an event that will reach its conclusion in St Petersburg, Russia, nine months from now.

Alicante welcomed this major international event, which has generated an economic impact of €70 million for the city, with open arms. Over the course of 23 days, almost a million people visited the city’s port to enjoy the activities available at the Race Village, a recreational and informative space covering an area of 40,000 m² set up next to the team bases by the Regional Government. Thanks to the Race Village, more than 11,000 children were able to discover the exciting world of sailing first hand.

Thanks to its hosting of this event, Alicante has raised its national and international profile, with over 200 cover stories in Spain and more than 2,000 around the world. In the national press alone, an informative campaign on this scale would have cost around €30 million over these 23 days. The television campaigns run by the sponsors of Alicante 2008-2009 included 334 adverts a day on different local, regional and national TV stations, which would have cost approximately €5.6 million a day. All told, the Volvo Ocean Race has generated an economic impact through the media of €180 million.

The boats taking part in the race left the port of Alicante on October 11th, although the competition actually got underway on October 4th with the In Port Race, held in the waters of Alicante. Together with St Petersburg, which will welcome the conclusion of the race, Alicante has hosted one of the Volvo’s most important stages. China, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and Russia have been included for the first time on this intrepid adventure, which will include 11 countries along the way.

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