Post-event
assessment reveals F1 in 2014 drew biggest crowd to date, recorded its
highest ever guest satisfaction scores, witnessed unparalleled social
media engagement, and saw largest number of international press
attendees
Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, December 21, 2014: Yas
Marina Circuit today announced that the 2014 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX was the most successful to date, packed with an
unprecedented series of firsts.
With the largest ever
capacity, at 60,000 people – an increase of 5,000 tickets in 2013 –
crowds were drawn from all over the world. This year’s weekend saw the
highest number of overseas visitors, with 46 per cent of all race goers
coming from outside the UAE.
Every year Yas Marina
Circuit conducts a customer satisfaction survey and this year’s report,
based on 1,200 10-minute, face-to-face interviews across the weekend,
demonstrated the extent of the fan experience. Eighty-eight per cent
said Abu Dhabi was the best Grand Prix weekend they had ever attended.
Further, 98 per cent of respondents said they would recommend attending
to others. Incredibly, Yas Marina Circuit scored 100 per cent on overall
visitor experience, with 100 per cent saying they would return to
attend the event in 2015.
The sporting narrative
of Hamilton vs. Rosberg’s ‘Duel in the Desert’ and the double points on
offer drew global media interest, and saw the highest ever number of
media personnel at Yas Marina Circuit. The Media Centre hosted 440
journalists from all over the world – the biggest media presence at the
circuit in the event’s six-year history – resulting in 8,306 articles in
print and online worldwide, the biggest ever spread and amount of
coverage.
As well as record
levels of traditional media engagement, Yas Marina Circuit’s social
media footprint registered on a global scale. The hashtag ‘#AbuDhabiGP’
trended number one worldwide on Twitter on Race Day, while recording
302,805 Twitter mentions and 1,808,000,000 Twitter impressions over the
Formula 1 weekend (from 21st Nov – 23rd November). These numbers are not
just new records for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but also for F1 in
general.
Continuing the theme
of online and digital success, the introduction of the YasHUB F1
experience app that allowed race goers to tailor all aspects of their
weekend – from ticketing, to the latest F1 news to entertainment options
– saw fantastic pick up. The YasHUB app was downloaded 40,734 times and
ranked as the number one downloaded sports app in the UAE’s Apple and
Google Android stores. The app recorded 175,000 useage sessions across
the weekend.
“This year was a
fantastic success across all fronts,” said Al Tareq Al Ameri, CEO of Yas
Marina Circuit. “Reviewing our performance post race, we have been
delighted to discover that we have hosted the biggest and most well
attended race weekend in the circuit’s Formula 1 history. We have
promised the world’s motorsport fans a truly unique event and have
continued to deliver that year on year and look forward to building on
the visitor experience in 2015. We would like to thank everyone for
attending and helping to make this year an unforgettable sporting and
entertainment experience.”
Abu Dhabi is fast
becoming the model for Grand Prix delivery around the world and it is
the way in which all Abu Dhabi entities work together that makes the
event especially successful. With key partners such as Etihad Airways,
Toursim & Culture Authority Abu Dhabi, ESC, Abu Dhabi Police, DoT
and Yas Island working together all year in preparation for this big
weekend, the benefits are clearly seen by the fans.
“We will continue to
work closely with our Abu Dhabi partners and stakeholders to continue to
build this great event and ensure that 2015 will be even better”, added
Al Tareq Al Ameri.
For more information, please visit: http://www.
