Scotland’s economy benefits to the tune of £20 million from one Six Nations international at Murrayfield.
That’s the main conclusion from an independent economic impact study conducted by Professor Ronald McQuaid of the Employment Research Institute at Napier University.
The study, conducted during last season’s Six Nations Championship when Scotland played host to England and France, also found that the Edinburgh economy received a £10 million boost from each match.
SRU Financial Director Graham Ireland said: ‘For many years there has been speculation on just what international rugby matches staged at Murrayfield mean for both the local and national economy.
‘It was very important for us from a business perspective to ascertain the true economic significance of events at Murrayfield therefore we looked to a renowned educational establishment to conduct an independent survey on the matter.’
The main findings of the survey – conducted from 2,502 interviews with spectators at the matches against England and France last season and interviews with 53 businesses in the hotel and pub trade in Edinburgh – were:-
The immediate impact of a Six Nations home match on the Scottish economy is estimated to be at least £20 million and the impact on the Edinburgh economy alone is worth more than £10 million.
Over 90% of all spectators at both matches were in Edinburgh specifically for the rugby. Some 93% of non-Scots domiciled spectators stayed more than one night in accommodation at the France game. The figure for the England game was 78%.
80% of visitors interviewed at the England match and 69% at the France match indicated that the rugby trip would make them come back to Scotland on holiday.
Business in hotels/restaurants increased by £3.62 million across Edinburgh during the England match weekend and increased by £3.52 million during the France match weekend. Nearly 60% of hotels (in the Edinburgh area) at the England match and 50% at the France match reported an increase in business of more than 25% compared to a non-rugby weekend at that time of year. Normal occupancy rates for a Friday night in February run at 71% and in March run at 78%. The occupancy rate for the England game rose to 90% on the Friday night and for the French game it rose to 95%.
Just under half of hotels and pubs employed some extra staff over both rugby weekends. Some 36% of hotels and 50% of pubs employed extra part-time staff for the England match. Some 12% of hotels and 5% of pubs employed additional full-time staff. In all around 2,258 part-time and 521 full-time extra jobs are created temporarily over the weekend of a Six Nations international in Edinburgh. The full-time equivalent figure of jobs created temporarily is 1,650.
The age group with the most representation in both matches was the 35-44 group. Around 20% of spectators in our survey were female. From the survey it appeared that visiting spectators were accompanied by an additional 11% of people (spouses etc) who came to Edinburgh but did not attend the match.
Some 9% of visitors stayed in overnight accommodation in Glasgow while 84% stayed in the Edinburgh area. Some 30% of supporters stayed at least two nights in Scotland over the course of a rugby weekend.
The most popular mode of travel to Edinburgh from elsewhere in Scotland was car with around 50% of spectators at both matches choosing that form of transport.
SRU Chief Executive Bill Watson said: ‘The results of the study have surpassed our expectations, in particular on the impact of Six Nations matches on the Scottish economy.
‘Now that we have these findings we wish to engage further with the Scottish Executive, local authorities and agencies such as sportscotland and VisitScotland in order to enhance the overall benefits for the entire nation from a competition that rugby has always regarded as the jewel in the crown.’
A further economic impact study will be conducted at the Scottish Mutual Autumn Tests at Murrayfield against Romania on 9 November, South Africa on 16 November and Fiji on 24 November.
In addition further research is planned at this season’s Six Nations home internationals against Ireland on 16 February, Wales on 8 March and Italy on 29 March.
For further information please contact
Graham Law
SRU
T: 0131 346 5164