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 Study
http://www.rydercup.com/2010/europe/news/economic_imp
act_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