The multimillion dollar impact of America’s Cup World series on the English city of Portsmouth bodes well for Bermuda, a government minister said yesterday.

And Grant Gibbons, the Economic Development Minister, said that the figures for the Bermuda races, held last month, were being worked on and should underscore the value of the event to the Island.

A report commissioned by British cup contender Land Rover BAR from financial services firm KPMG in the UK found that the event had generated $71.5 million in economic impact for the entire country, with $89.7 million in advertising value equivalents from the worldwide TV exposure, as well as 730 jobs on a full-time equivalent basis.

In addition, the presence of Land Rover BAR’s base in Portsmouth brought $38 million to the local economy, with another $9 million coming from the event itself.

Dr Gibbons, who masterminded the bid to bring the America’s Cup to Bermuda, said: “The study clearly shows that the America’s Cup-related activities can make a real economic contribution to a city or a jurisdiction.”

He added that the event in Portsmouth, which attracted 250,000 spectators, could not be directly compared to Bermuda, where the numbers are smaller.

But he predicted that the event would still make a “significant” impact on the economy.

Dr Gibbons said: “These are certainly very encouraging figures from Land Rover BAR.

“What was interesting was the ratio of the impact of the team having its base there — when you look at that on a proportional basis, it’s an 80/20 ratio.

“It really validates our Bermuda bid and why the America’s Cup was so attractive.

“A lot of the economic benefit is really based on having a lot of the teams based here over a two- to three-year period.

“It’s the teams living here, shopping in stores, eating in restaurants and using mobile phones.

“These kinds of this are really where we have been seeing, and expect to see in the future, the real value of the America’s Cup to Bermuda.”

And Dr Gibbons added that the media value of TV coverage had also been a major factor in Bermuda’s bid to host the Cup.

He said: “That’s obviously very much a part of the Bermuda equation as well.”

He added that CNN — which has around 300 million viewers worldwide — had run three separate pieces on the Bermuda leg of the World Series races.

Dr Gibbons said: “That’s part of what Portsmouth was seeing — attracting business and interest to the city and that will work with Bermuda too.”

He added: “We are pulling together the data from the most recent World Series races and hopefully in the next month or so we will be able to share that information.”

Dr Gibbons said that the Bermuda figures, however, would only include the race event itself, not the wider impact of teams living in and spending in Bermuda.

He added: “It’s not just visitors and hotels being full — we’re looking at the impact on the business community in terms of additional customers, both local and visitors and the additional spending that was done by the organisers of the America’s Cup and the teams that were here.

“Front Street was absolutely hopping and it was a tremendous turnout — we’re all absolutely delighted with the enthusiasm shown by Bermudians and locals and those that came from overseas.”