Tour de Yorkshire 2016 contributes £60m to region’s economy

The 2016 Tour de Yorkshire provided a £60m boost to the region’s economy, an independent research revealed.

Over the course of the race weekend from April 29 to May 1, which more than two million spectators watched, there was a 27.8% year on year increase in accommodation spend.

Non-accommodation items such as food and drink, souvenirs and transport was also up from last year by 12.4%.

The economic impact study carried out by Leeds Beckett University, showed that the majority of spectators were from Yorkshire (79%) while 21% from elsewhere in the UK and abroad.

Televised in 178 countries, the race was watched by some 11.4 million global TV viewers across Eurosport and ITV4 which is double the amount in 2015.

There was over 130 hours of TV coverage broadcast globally: 165% more than in 2015 due to new broadcasters and longer broadcast coverage, according to an independent survey by Repucom.

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This is tremendous news for Yorkshire and the statistics speak for themselves - the public support for the Tour de Yorkshire is overwhelming.

“Even in the face of some not so welcoming weather, these statistics show that the Tour de Yorkshire is rapidly going from strength to strength.

“The great people of the county continued to support the race in their droves with over two million people lining the route, spending 20% more than last year while TV viewing figures nearly doubled.

“This confirms that the people of Yorkshire have really taken the Tour de Yorkshire to their hearts and already we can’t wait for next year!”

A small number of 2017 start and finish locations have already been confirmed with Fox Valley (Sheffield), Halifax, Harrogate and Selby announced as hosts.

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