Strong advance ticket sales for next year's Open at Royal Birkdale have led to predictions of a £70m tourism boost for the local economy of the North West.
The R&A Director of Championships, David Hill, said: "The Open Championship is always well attended at Royal Birkdale and we expect golf fans to book season tickets early to take advantage of discounted rates. Strong ticket sales are an important factor in predicting the likely benefit to local tourism related businesses and we have every reason to believe business will be brisk in 2008."
More than two-thirds of spectators buy tickets for The Open in advance, with over 40 per cent purchased online.
Early estimates of spectator numbers suggest that the event will bring over £30m of new money to the local economy while television pictures of the local golf coast, beamed around the world, will have an equivalent advertising value of approximately £40m to tourism related businesses in the region.
Royal Birkdale Golf Club has hosted golf's oldest major championship on eight previous occasions, drawing spectators from the West Midlands, North Wales, Yorkshire and The Humber and throughout the North West of England, an area with a population of some 20 million people.
Welcoming the news Sefton Council Head of Tourism, Tony Corfield said: "When it was announced that The Open was returning to Royal Birkdale we knew the tourism benefit would be significant and long lasting, especially as it coincides with our launch of Southport as Englands Classic Resort. As a Council, we are working hard to ensure that local people get the most out of having one of the worlds greatest sporting events on their doorstep."
The prospect of Open champion Padraig Harrington bidding to become the first home back-to-back winner since James Braid in 1906 is likely to boost the number of spectators beyond the 200,000 who watched the last Open at Birkdale in 1998.
A season ticket to cover eight days of official practice and Championship play at the discounted price of £180 is available until January 31.
No comments:
Post a Comment