Joe GallopAs Wembley Stadium (cap. 90,000) prepares to welcome 60,000 people tonight for the UEFA Euro 2020 semi-finals, the biggest audience at a UK venue since the pandemic struck, a report has found that major events collectively bring £600m per year to London’s economy.
The report by professional services firm Hatch and business growth agency London & Partners, which runs Visitlondon.com, found that all major events between 2017 and 2020 in London generated an estimated contribution of £2.51bn to the London economy.
This total includes £2.27bn generated by visitor spend on accommodation and non-accommodation expenses such as food and drink, as well as an estimated £238m spent by event organisers.
It found that every visit to a concert and cultural event generated on average £23 to the London economy, while each visit to a sporting event injected on average £42.
The report captured data from events such as the IAAF World Championships and World Para Athletics Championships in 2017, which was the biggest event captured in the report and is said to have brought in £107m to the London economy.
It also took data from the NFL’s London Games at Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as non-sporting events such as the Lumiere London outdoor light festival, Elrow Town London and the Chinese New Year celebrations at Trafalgar Square.
As part of the £7m Let’s Do London campaign backed by Visit London, the Mayor of London, and the city’s tourism and hospitality industry, several pop-up events, public art installations and cultural activities are set to take place across the capital.
Following the Euros final and the full-capacity Wimbledon final on Sunday, among the key events lined up in the city this year are new cricket competition The Hundred, All Points East festival, Pride in London, London Fashion Week, West End LIVE, London Marathon, BFI London Film Festival, and the Rugby League World Cup.
“Major events are the heartbeat of our city and the return of these events will provide a much-needed boost to the city’s economy following the pandemic,” said mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
London & Partners director of major events & city experience Georgina Warren said, “Today’s report findings demonstrate the value of major events to London and how much the city’s economy stands to benefit from their return following the pandemic.
“Major events not only inject billions of pounds worth of visitor spend, they also bring people together and position London favourably on the global stage. They are the backdrop to memories that last a lifetime and that shared experience that we’ve all missed so much in the last year.”
The full report can be read here.