The opportunity to promote Perth and Kinross to a worldwide audience through the Ryder Cup is unique, a meeting of the full council has been told.
In view of the scale of the event and the major economic implications councillors agreed to spend £500,000 to capitalise on the Ryder Cup and other national celebrations in 2014.
“The Ryder Cup is now widely recognised as one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” said Keith McNamara, head of environmental services and consumer services with the council.
“As the prestige and popularity of the Ryder Cup has grown, so has the event attendance, media coverage and the global television audience.
“The Ryder Cup draws a daily on-site audience of 45,000 (with staff, media etc the total attendance on site is 52,500), with an estimated TV audience of 600 million viewers.
“The event is expected to attract 1,200 representatives from the world’s media.
“The prominence of the Ryder Cup creates opportunities for Perth and Kinross through promotion of the area to a worldwide audience, the business opportunities for local companies, and the legacy benefits which could be gained locally by building upon this internationally significant event.”
The £500,000 will be used to pay additional council staff costs associated with staging the Ryder Cup, banners and street dressing, floral displays and tourism development. The budget will also include costs for other major celebration events such as the Queen’s Baton Relay.
A series of fun activities will be laid on in Perth to promote the city and golf, including a crazy golf trail, inflatable golf practice nets, a chipping challenge, golf-related films and a golf market.
Councillor Ian Miller said the legacy would last many years beyond the actual event and he urged his fellow councillors to “take part, take pride, and take place” in the celebrations for the Ryder Cup and other major occasions next year.
“The huge international attention associated with this event presents a unique opportunity to showcase the outstanding attributes of Perth and Kinross to a worldwide audience,” said Mr Miller.
“As one media report put it last week, when referring to the ‘Year to Go’ celebrations, we couldn’t buy this kind of positive publicity for the area.
“The 2010 Ryder Cup brought in an estimated £82 million to the Welsh economy, and for the 2014 event the Scottish Government is aiming for a £100 million economic benefit across Scotland,” the council leader went on.
“Studies of major tournaments, such as the British Open, show that the economic benefits to the host area can be around £25 million. That gives us an idea of the scale of this event.
“Ryder Cup Europe and other event planning partners have already expressed their admiration for the ‘can do’ approach of Perth and Kinross Council and the significant contribution that the council has made towards the event.
“We have already seen the benefits of this joint work through the launch last week, at the Community School of Auchterarder, of the Ryder Cup Education Resource, which is now available to the world for sharing.
“The proposals in this report provide a foundation which will allow us to build not only towards a successful Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, but also to contribute to celebrating the other keynote events of 2014 the Homecoming, and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
“We expect the proposals in the report will deliver a lasting economic, social and environmental legacy for our communities in Perth and Kinross.”