The Volvo Ocean Race Museum smashes historical records

The Volvo Ocean Race Museum in Alicante, Spain has broken it’s record for the number of visits in 2017, with a huge 73,421 visitors coming through the doors of the facility. 

The year-on-year growth is 39% in comparison to 2016, and 23% in comparison to 2014, the last time Alicante was the Start Port of the round-the-world race.

Incredibly, almost half of the visitors to the museum (45.5%) are foreigners, which underlines the attraction’s reputation as one of the must-see spots in the Spanish seaside resort.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports indicates that the average percentage of foreign visitors in museums is 9.7% both in the Valencian Community and in the whole of Spain. 

Antonio Bolaños, managing director of the Volvo Ocean Race, was delighted with the news: "We’re delighted with the ever-growing popularity of the Museum amongst both the locals in Alicante and international visitors.

“Year after year the attendance figures are surpassed, and the Museum has become one of the must-see attractions for anyone who finds themselves in the region.” 

The Museum, which is free to enter, also has a popular free school program for all ages. It was inaugurated in June 2012 and is located in the Volvo Zone of the Port of Alicante.

In addition to that, the Volvo Ocean Race Museum has hosted a multitude of courses, conferences and various activities, such as the III Symposium of Nautical Clubs and the CEFIRE course to train Alicante teachers to use the race in their educational programmes. 

And 2018 is set to be the best year yet. On 26 January there will be a specialist talk with two of the most prestigious sailing professionals in Spain: Gonzalo Infante, who will talk about navigation programs and practical apps in the Mediterranean, and Luis Martínez Doreste, who will speak about the sails of the Volvo Ocean 65 and TPT manufacturing technology.