Golf's £77m Boost For Kent

The Open Golf Championship in Sandwich back in July was worth £77million pounds to Kent's economy, according to research commissioned by the organisers.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club found that just over £24million pounds of that was amount was extra spending in the county, while the benefit of images of Kent being beamed to hundreds of millions of homes around the work during the tournament is thought to be worth £52.6 million.

Commenting on the research findings R&A Chief Executive, Peter Dawson said: "We are delighted that the Championship delivered a significant economic impact to the local community.

"In one week, the economic benefit for Kent exceeded £24 million and the tourism legacy benefit of almost 300 hours of scenic images of the Kent countryside, viewed globally on television, will pay back in the county for years to come."

Kent County Council Leader, Councillor Paul Carter said: "The Open was the largest major global sports event that Kent has accommodated in recent years.

"Not only did it lead to a golf legacy project involving many hundreds of people in the county trying golf for the first time, but it boosted the profile of the area nationally and internationally, which should help in our efforts to secure inward investment, tourism and jobs for East Kent.

180,000 tickets were bought for the four day tournament, and 37,000 passengers travelled on the special High Speed train service from London St Pancras, operated by Southeastern.

Airline Flybe reported total bookings at Manston Kent International Airport up 70% in July with a 40% increase in bookings on the carrier’s Edinburgh service.