Rugby World Cup drives tourism to UK

ON the back of a report showing the #Rugby World Cup 2015 was the most economically-successful ever, figures from VisitBritain show double-digit growth in the number of visits from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa from October to December last year. 

Visits from New Zealand to the UK increased by 52 percent to more than 40,000 with the Kiwis spending more than £63 million during this period, more than twice as much as in 2014. Visits and spend from Australia both increased by 20 percent to 219,000 and £254 million respectively compared to the same period in 2014. And visits from South Africa were up by 30 per cent to 58,000 with spend up six percent to £77 million.

VisitBritain director Patricia Yates said: ‘Britain shone in the global spotlight as the host of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and it’s great to see the huge growth in visits and spend from some of the world’s top rugby-watching nations including Australia, our fourth most valuable market. Almost half a million international visitors attended matches and events across 11 host cities throughout the seven-week tournament which gave these areas global exposure, introducing new places to many overseas visitors.’

‘The Economic Impact of Rugby World Cup 2015’ report published Ernst and Young showed that the tournament generated almost £2.3 billion in economic output. The 406,000 international visitors for the RWC each stayed for 14 days in the UK, spending £958 million, at an average of £2,400 per person.

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