The Economic Impact of the Ryder Cup

MAJOR EVENTS AND FESTIVAL IMPACTS | SEMINAR | WEEK 4

Seminar Overview Economic impacts explained Economic impacts critiqued The Ryder Cup introduced The Ryder Cup 2014 in Scotland Group activity: The Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales Group discussion

Economic impacts explained Economic impact of a major event refers to the total amount of

additional expenditure generated within a defined area as a direct consequence of staging the event.

Three components: Direct impact | Indirect impact | Induced impact

Events can have positive and negative economic impacts. The value of events is often measured in economic terms. Economic impact studies try to establish the net change in a host

community. Consider impact on local, regional and national level. Return on investment as key measures. The use of figures to legitimise the decision to invest in an event.

Economic impacts critiqued

Where do the figures come from? Question statistics.

Economic impact studies as a means of justifying expenditure.

Who conducted the research? Potential for bias. How to measure impacts? Diverse and theoretically fragile. Where does the money go? Not all remains within local area. What are the costs really? Construction, infrastructure cost. Who makes the decisions? Residents vs decision makers.

The Ryder Cup introduced The biggest team competition in world golf Held biannually and contested by the best golfers from

the USA and Europe First official Ryder Cup took place in 1927, initially

between USA and GB USA dominance in the 60’s and 70’s led to expansion of

GB team to include Europe Venue alternated between USA and initially England,

then in 1973, hosted by Scotland (Spain 1997, Ireland 2006, Wales 2010)

The Ryder Cup 2014 in Scotland http://golf.visitscotland.com/the_2014_ryder_

cup.aspx

Scotland’s Ryder Cup Bid: 1. Cultural Issues – ‘Home of Golf’ 2. Sport Development – ‘intro to golf for kids’ 3. Economic Issues – Golf tourism promotion

The Ryder Cup 2014 in Scotland Bidding for Ryder Cup part of wider Golf Tourism

Strategy Promotes images of Scotland (not just Gleneagles) in

order to stimulate wider tourism as well as golf tourism

£200m worth of benefit to the Scottish economy (McSherry 2001)

Place marketing, Image promotion, Media coverage

The Ryder Cup 2014 in Scotland Used as a marketing strategy to stimulate golf

tourism but can it be sustained? Constraints on economic benefits of quasi-rural

setting – but still £24m investment from public purse

Conflicting messages in strategy?

The Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGsCA4ONf30 Held at Celtic Manor Resort – Newport Wales Initial economic impact estimate of £73million for the

week before the event Direct Impact of £53.9million for Wales South East Wales saw an impact of £48.7million Newport saw an impact of £18.5 70% of the impact contributed by consumer spending

The Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales 172 companies were represented at the 2010

Ryder Cup 250,000 visits to the competition was recorded

over the event One third of the audience were from Wales Half were from the rest of the UK 10% were from overseas – 69% of these said they

would return for a short holiday 89% of people were golf enthusiasts!

Group activity

Read the short executive summary of the Ryder Cup 2010 Economic Impact Studyhttp://www.rydercup.com/2010/europe/news/economic_impact_032311.cfm

Discuss the document in your small group and provide a critique (use flipchart paper)

Present and discuss your findings and comments with the rest of the class