Adelaide Grand Prix: F1 legend Alan Jones invited to see the city’s hotel explosion
An SA hospitality guru has challenged F1 legend Alan Jones’s outdated idea of Adelaide, saying he should see the city’s explosion of luxury hotels for himself.
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An explosion of high-end hotels in Adelaide would be a major drawcard for the Formula One, hospitality association boss Ian Horne says, as he blasts racing legend Alan Jones for thinking the city is too small to host a Grand Prix.
The 1980 F1 champion said Adelaide was “too small a place for a Formula One race”, claiming the city did not have enough hotel rooms to accommodate a swarm of international and interstate visitors.
Mr Horne, the Australian Hotels Association boss, said the number of hotel rooms in SA would have at least quadrupled since Adelaide first hosted the Grand Prix, and suggested Jones might not have visited the city since his last F1 race in Adelaide in 1986.
“I think he’s probably judging us on his perception of 1990, as opposed to 32 years later, because we’ve had an explosion of four- and five-star hotels,” Mr Horne said, pointing to the Adelaide Oval Hotel and Eos by SkyCity as just two examples.
“We’ve just seen a massive number of hotels in the past half-a-dozen years, and there’s more on the drawing board.”
Mr Horne also said Adelaide Airport, which was once a “bit of an embarrassment”, is now a “state-of-the-art” complex just a few kilometres away from the CBD.
“I’m absolutely confident that if Mr Jones visited Adelaide now he would have a wonderful experience – he probably needs to have another visit over here,” he said.
“I’m not offended by it; I suspect that’s what happens when you never leave the safety of Melbourne.”
The debate ignited after The Advertiser revealed Premier Peter Malinauskas launched an audacious, last-minute bid to snatch the F1 Grand Prix from Melbourne.
SA fell victim to timing, as F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali would have welcomed an Adelaide bid if the state government showed interest late last year – before the March election.
“I think it’s a fantastic ambition to steal a Grand Prix, recognising that’s not going to happen in the short-term,” Mr Horne said.
“People from the east coast who haven’t been to Adelaide for a long time, still potentially judge us harshly, and it’s based on experiences that are 30 years out of date.”
The final Adelaide Grand Prix in 1995 attracted a crowd of 520,000 – more than Melbourne’s record of 420,000 this year.
Jones remained unconvinced Adelaide could replicate those numbers.
“ (Adelaide) had to billet out accommodation to people, and in this day and age they wouldn’t stand for that,” he said.
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