Cheltenham Festival records smallest daily crowd since 1993
The smallest Cheltenham Festival audience since 1993 was recorded on Wednesday with 41,949 viewers.
Nearly 5,000 declines since last year, reflecting the fall of the crowd on Tuesday, while the 60,181 population fell to 55,498.
In 2022, the number of attendees of Queen Champions Day is close to 65,000. This year’s figure is the lowest since 40,662 the next day 32 years ago.
Absent frequent visitors regard the cost of accommodation, tickets, travel, food and beverages as the reason for missing the meeting, which will be extended to four days starting from three days in 2005.
Thousands of people travel to Spanish destinations in Costa del Sol, including Benidorm and Tenerife, to watch action on the big screen and say a week in the sun is cheaper than attending fixtures.
Racecourse CEO Guy Lavender, who took over the course earlier this year, wrote an open letter ahead of the meeting admitting that attendance will drop.
“The decline is not disastrous, but we are not seeing more and more attendance,” he said.
