After ‘Super Sunday’, what impact does sport have on UK tourism?

There have been very few sporting days quite like it.

Dubbed ‘Super Sunday’, it certainly lived up to the billing. Sunday, 14 July, 2019 saw the men’s final at Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix and the Cricket World Cup Final at Lord’s all deliver amazing thrills and twists.

Lewis Hamilton won at Silverstone, Novak Djokovic triumphed in an epic five-setter on Centre Court – and one of the great sporting fixtures of all time saw England pick up their first World Cup after a dramatic ‘Super Over’ after they tied with New Zealand.

These events are great for English sports fans – and for beer sales – but what impact do they have on tourism businesses?

Here are eight facts about tourism and sport in the UK which show the scale and potential of the industry.

1 Football is the number one sporting draw for international tourists to the UK with more than 800,000 international visitors going to a football match annually
2 They spend £684 million during their time in the country
3 The Cricket World Cup is said to have generated £32 million for one host city – Birmingham – alone
4 In May, the British High Commission reported there was an average of 3,500 visa applications from Indians each day purely for the Cricket World Cup.
5 IBISWorld estimates that the UK could benefit from a £435.5 million economic boost by hosting the Cricket World Cup
6 In 2016, the Office for National Statistics recorded a £172 million inbound tourism expenditure on sport and recreation
7 The value of sport to the UK economy as a whole has increased by 5.3 per cent year-on-year and by 40 per cent since 2010
8 Golf tourism in Northern Ireland could be worth £50 million by 2020

 
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For more information about our work with the tourism sector contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039