Denmark Study Reveals UEFA Under-21s Social And Economic Spin-Offs

A total tourism turnover of DKK61 million equal to €8.1 million and 81,760 bed nights in Denmark are just some of the key findings of Sport Event Denmark’s tourist economic impact analysis and evaluation report on the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011 in Aarhus, Herning, Viborg and Aalborg, 11 - 25 June 2011, presented in cooperation with the Danish Football Association (DBU) and UEFA.

“One of our objectives was to stage a fantastic championship on home ground and at the same time use the event as a platform for further major international football events in Denmark,” says Christian Bordinggaard, DBU and UEFA Under-21 Tournament Director. “And I think we can say that we succeeded. This report is an important tool for us to highlight the many spin-offs generated by the event and the atmosphere that was embedded in the tournament from day one. But not only that. It also provides us with useful information about our future event potential.”

Bordinggaard points out that beyond the macro-economic effects of the event, the report addresses vital aspects in terms of, among other things; the many enthusiastic volunteers, their motivation, experience, attitudes and rate of satisfaction with the voluntary work at the event.

“Without the more than 800 volunteers we would never have been able to accomplish this job,” Bordinggaard says. “According to Sport Event Denmark’s report the voluntary work was worth as much as DKK11.5 million equal to €1.5 million. But what is even more important for me to highlight is the fact that the volunteers say that it has been an experience they will never forget. They feel that they have acquired more skills and have strengthened the ones they had already by contributing to the staging of this event”.

The attendance at the event was 101,147, and as many as 98 million TV-viewers watched the eight participating nations’ endeavors to win the tournament title and qualify for the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Also, the tournament achieved massive coverage in both national and international online media. Thus, in June 2011 alone, 2,500 Danish and 7,712 international online articles were written about the event and many of the international journalists reporting from the matches wrote about Denmark, in general, as well.

Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark, says: “This Under-21 event is an excellent example of how Denmark can be branded through sports events. The media coverage was impressive.”

Lundov says that the use of social media platforms has been especially noticeable and innovative. Lundov adds that the many good experiences from the tournament can be used actively by both DBU and Sport Event Denmark in relation to upcoming major events in Denmark.

For more than 10 years, Sport Event Denmark has conducted impact analysis and evaluations of major international sports events and sports congresses in Denmark, but never before at an event staged in four different host cities. Due to the mutual hosting of the Under-21 event Sport Event Denmark has worked out one report (in Danish) per host city, focusing on the importance of the event for that particular city.

Sport Event Denmark’s full report; “Tourist Economic Impact Analysis and Evaluation”, has been approved by UEFA.

The report includes an executive summary of both the macro-economic spin-offs and the many qualitative findings such as visitor profile and visitor evaluation, but also provides a short comparison of the event with the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships in Sweden.

”I wish to go to Denmark in the near future,” is just one of many positive event visitor statements at the U-21 event in Denmark 2011.

Download the report here: http://sporteventdenmark.com/Analyser/~/media/Baseline_site/Analyser/Egne/TOURIST%20ECONOMIC%20IMPACT%20ANALYSIS%20AND%20EVALUATION%20FINAL.ashx

FACTS:
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011 was staged in Aarhus, Herning, Viborg and Aalborg from 11 to 25 June 2011.
Participating nations: Denmark, England, Belarus, Iceland, Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Spain won the final by 2-0 over Switzerland. Spain, Switzerland and Belarus qualified for the Olympic Games 2012 in London.