Punchestown 2013The Punchestown Festival gets under way next week and has announced a full roster of no fewer than 37 individual sponsors for the races.
A total prize fund of €2.2 Million and an attendance of 100,000 over the five days from Tuesday to Saturday makes this one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
Each of the five feature races have retained their title sponsors in Boylesports, The Tote, Ladbrokes, Rabobank and AES. Additional grade 1 sponsors include The Herald, Growise, the Irish Daily Mirror, Betdaq, Ryanair and Tattersalls while the racecourse also welcomed five new sponsors to the ranks for 2013.
From a sporting perspective the presence of Sprinter Sacre, hailed as potentially the best jumper of his generation, is a major draw for Tuesday.  This is one of three of the days on which corporate hospitality has sold out completely and a waiting list is in operation.
Over 500 companies, 100 of whom are from the UK are involved in entertaining at the meeting, a reflection of the importance of sport to the general business environment.  The range of sectors represented is almost universal with Agri-business, Pharmaceutical, Financial Services and IT the four most prominent groups.
The Festival Shopping Village is also sold out with 50 exhibitors taking space, seven of whom are from the UK and five of whom did not exist this time 12 months ago.
The pre sale of tickets is up eight per cent on 2012 and at the highest level since 2008. Activity on the race couse website has climbed by 50%, aided by inclusion of the video below.
An independent 2011 Economic Impact report by the Economics Department of the National University of Maynooth found that the five day Punchestown festival contributes over €57 million to the local economy and based on current figures that number looks set to exceed the €60 million mark for 2013. Much of this value is derived from the 20% of attendees who travel from the UK and further afield.
“The seasonal up-turn that the Punchestown Festival brings to the North Kildare Region is evident across the board,” said Alan Shine of the North Kildare Chamber of Commerce. “All types of businesses from hotels, restaurants, pubs, hair salons, retailers, boutiques, golf clubs and tourist attractions enjoy the benefits of the event”.
“All indications at this stage are that we are looking at the best attendance and the busiest corporate side for years,” added Liam Holton, Punchestown Sales & Marketing Director. “We have had tremendous support from all the businesses involved in Punchestown and along with excellent entries and the good weather we have a winning combination!”.

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