Tour of Britain : £230,000 spent in Newark during cycling spectacular
People visiting Newark to watch the Tour Of Britain cycle race spent an estimated £234,524 in the town, a study has found.
Data compiled by consultancy firm Frontline revealed that, in total, an estimated £1,545,680 was spent in Nottinghamshire during last year’s cycling spectacular.
It surveyed 1,904 spectators who watched the fourth stage of the tour in September, which was from Mansfield to Newark. It was the first time a stage had been held in Nottinghamshire.
The survey asked how much visitors spent on food and drink, accommodation, shopping, merchandise, entertainment and local travel, and estimated the total spending in these areas.
It also factored in knock-on benefits such as purchases by those in the local supply chain made by businesses who received more custom.
It then factored out money that would have been spent in the area anyway, for example, by spectators who were also visiting for another reason; money that would otherwise have been spent elsewhere in the county had the race not been taking place; and money that was not spent in the county — for example, travel tickets bought at the beginning of a journey.
A total of 210,000 visitors watched the stage in Nottinghamshire, 39% of whom were from outside the county and 8% stayed overnight.
Groups of visitors who stayed for the day spent an average of £27.38, while groups who stayed overnight spent an average of £101.98 per day.
Almost half of those who visited (49%) were with their families; 88% described the race as very enjoyable; and 62% said they were inspired to cycle more.
Three-quarters of those visiting to watch the race were from the East Midlands, 12% were from Yorkshire and the Humber and the rest were from elsewhere in the UK, from as far as the south-west.
A total of 391,000 people watched live coverage of the stage on ITV4, with 508,000 watching the highlights and a further 47,000 the repeat.
The stage was screened by TV stations around the world, including those in cycling powerhouses France, Italy and Belgium.
It was shown live on Eurosport, which has 231m subscribers in 91 countries, and two Norwegian and one Polish TV crew followed the race for the whole week.
The whole race was covered in 12 national newspapers and in newspapers around the world, including L’Equipe and La Gazzetta dello Sport.
More than 40 regional newspapers covered the race, including the Advertiser, which produced a 12-page supplement.
The race was covered online on several websites including BBC Sport, Sky Sports and ESPN.
Coverage in cycling media included a 36-page supplement in Cycling Plus and a ten-page review in Cycling Weekly.
'Our residents really rose to the occasion'
Newark and Sherwood District Council community development manager Mr Andy Hardy said: “Hosting stage four of the Ovo Energy Tour of Britain in Newark and Sherwood provided an excellent boost for the local economy, raised the profile of the district nationally and internationally and inspired large- scale community involvement over a wide geographical area.
“Our residents really rose to the occasion and we were all proud and privileged to have taken part.”
The Tour of Britain will return to Nottinghamshire this year but the exact route will not be confirmed until the race’s spring launch.
The district council’s policy and finance committee voted to support the tour at their latest meeting.
They also approved expenditure of £9,970 on the stage finish to cover unforeseen costs attached to last year’s event that were connected to health and safety requirements.
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