UK to benefit from extra visitor spend, jobs and trade generated by the Events’ economy
Once again the eyes of the world will focus on Britain’s vibrant and prospering events industry this summer, as world-class business, cultural and sporting occasions are staged across the Nation.
In addition to the many music festivals, agricultural shows and cultural events worth around £3bn to the economy, there’s a £2bn spectacular summer of sporting events including the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire, the Ryder Cup in Scotland in addition to the annual Great British institutions of Ascot, Wimbledon, Silverstone, Henley and this year’s Open Golf Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Liverpool also plays host to the International Festival for Business, a 50 day business event extravaganza when over 300 events, conferences and exhibitions will boost UK trade and exports. This focal event complements a host of trade shows, medical conferences and association congresses in Britain’s vast array of exhibitions and conference centres in city and resort destinations such as Harrogate, Telford, Brighton, Birmingham and Manchester, including London’s first Technology Week.
The UK events sector is worth £39.1bn to the UK visitor economy. It accounts for 30% of all tourism expenditures. An extra £7.7bn is spent by accompanying visitors within the wider economy. The sector’s 25,000 businesses employ 530,000 people. This is set to increase as many more are taken on over the next few months to service the growing number of outdoor events and festivals for which Britain has become renowned in staging.