Newport anticipates $30M spike, 100K visitors from Ocean Race

NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — As the Ocean Race comes to the shores of Rhode Island, the city of Newport expects a major economic boom before weeks before the anticipated summer season.

Discover Newport’s CEO and President Evan Smith believes this international event in the city will stand apart from others.

“An event like this will generate in the neighborhood of over $30 million,” said Smith. “Over 100,000 people will come to the Ocean Live Park out of Fort Adams and enjoy the music, the food the entertainment and see the sailors.”

The international tourists in the city, according to Smith, is a chance to once again sell Newport to a new crowd.

He added, “When you say, ‘Newport’ to people across the world, you say, ‘What does Newport mean to you?’ People know this is a sailing center and that just reinforces this. We have been so fortunate to host so many wonderful sailing competitions here. This is just another accolade we can add to the city’s list.”

This will be the city’s third time hosting the event. For restaurants like Midtown Oyster Bar, a spike in customers is expected over the next week.

“We expect about a 20% increase than a normal weekend this time of year,” said Charlie Holder, Midtown Oyster Bar’s General Manager. “We’ll have a twenty percent increase in staff… We’ll have our outdoor seating as well.”

The $30 million expected to the city is roughly $8 million more than the city saw in 2018.