Leeds to score £20m from 2015 Rugby World Cup

As the start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup is only weeks away, research shows that nearly £1bn will be spent in the transport and tourism industry as a direct result of the international tournament.

GoEuro.co.uk, the search engine for comparing flights, coach and rail travel options across Europe, has calculated that the UK tourism industry alone will generate £957m.

Throughout the sporting event, the UK will play host to 20 teams, over 440,000 international visitors and more than 2,200,000 Brits in 11 cities.

Therefore, the impact on the local economies will be enormous and, based on GoEuro’s research, it will be the biggest generator of Tourism since the 2012 London Olympics.

Leeds will be hosting two games at Elland Road, one of 13 match venues at Rugby World Cup, as part of a weekend of Rugby on 26-27 September.

In the first game on Saturday September 26, Italy will go against against Canada, and Scotland will play the USA on Sunday September 27 at 2.30pm.

As a result, the West Yorkshire city’s tourism industry will earn £20.4m, and a further £2m generated from fans travelling to Leeds.

These figures will be achieved with the support of the official site of Leeds’s Fanzone on Millennium Square. With a capacity of 5,000, there will be food, drink and entertainment facilities for all fans to enjoy.

The 11 host cities will generate between £3.5m and £197m in terms of money spent on inner-city transport, accommodation, food & beverages, according to the number of expected visiting spectators and the number of games being hosted.