Hundreds of people attended a rally this afternoon at Hamilton’s City Hall in advance of this weekend’s America’s Cup races.

Speaking to the crowd, Premier Michael Dunkley said the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event this weekend is really about Bermuda, urging the public to take part and show the world what makes the Island great.

“This weekend, I want everyone on the racecourse, everyone down in Hamilton having a good time and watching the competition,” he said. “I was blessed to be in Portsmouth this summer, and the racing is exciting.”

Bermuda Tourism Authority spokesman Glenn Jones said the event is drawing international visitors, saying that hotel occupancy Island-wide is around 80 per cent, with many hotels filled.

He also noted that this weekend’s races will be broadcast in more than 100 territories around the world, potentially introducing Bermuda to a new generation of visitors.

Hamilton mayor Charles Gosling said it was an honour for the city to host the international event, but it was also fitting given Bermuda’s rich nautical history.

“Now is our time to shine,” he said. “Now it is time for all our city businesses, residents and workforce to embrace this opportunity, to showcase and share with the world and overseas guests our island home.

“It’s also time, once we get our breath back, to plan for 2017. It’s also our job to ensure that what happens in Dockyard does not stay in Dockyard.”

Meanwhile St George’s mayor Quinell Francis said the focus will turn to the old town on Thursday, when a series of events will be held in connection with the Endeavour programme.

“We will have races in our harbour, the biggest harbour in Bermuda,” she said. “The America’s Cup is not there, but we will make the best of it in St George’s. We are going to see America’s Cup sailors against our Bermudian sailors in fitted dinghy races, so come out and cheer for our Bermudians in a race they have probably never done before.”

Erika Smith of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation said that a number of small businesses are taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the event.

“We have people, businesses, entrepreneurs who have been made redundant, who lost their jobs but saw an opportunity and took advantage of the opportunity, put themselves out there and managed to negotiate licence agreements with a world powerhouse like the America’s Cup,” she said. “These are our own Bermudian businesses who can not only perform excellently here on our small Island but excellently overseas and on a bigger stage.”