Around 34,000 visitors have travelled by sea for the TT this year.

Rob Callister MHK, who has responsibility for the TT, said this figure was up by 3,000 people from 2019.

‘It’s normally only 31,000 on the ferry, so that’s gone up,’ he told the Isle of Man Examiner.

Overall, in 2019 there were 46,000 visitors to the island for the TT fortnight.’

He continued: ‘They’ve obviously taken capacity away from the airlines because airlines haven’t had as many extra flights as usual for the TT.’

The TT has returned with a number of new features, including the newly developed TT Plus app, which has been designed for people to watch the races live from their devices, with over 40 hours of live coverage across the event.

Mr Callister said: ‘We had over 40,000 signed up on the Live App by the time of the first race and it may well have increased since then.

‘I think the new app will reach audiences we’ve never reached before and will potentially open this up to a worldwide audience.’

Before visitors began arriving, it had been estimated that over 30,000 would travel with the Steam Packet Company to the island for the event.

Mr Callister said at the time that it was ‘really good news’.

In 2019, the island welcomed over 14,700 visitors via the airport.

And that has significantly increased over the years,’ said Mr Callister.

‘Over the last six or seven years, it’s increased from 7,000, all the way up to 14,700.’

He added: ‘We haven’t got the data for the airlines yet.

‘We’re working on trying to get the information from the airline.

‘The numbers will be finalised after the event.’

The MHK explained that the amount of live entertainment and the new live coverage of the event would ‘hopefully’ mean the TT festivalwould be even more popular in future years.

He said: ‘What we’re hoping for is it will get added onto people’s bucket lists. Once people come for the TT, they come back time and time again.

‘Most of the people who come to the island are from UK, Ireland, Europe, and Australia, so there’s so much more potential in growing this and reaching a new audience who will come and want to experience it.’