Dublin eyes €25m Europa final boost

DESPITE the absence of Manchester City and Liverpool from the Europa League final, Dublin City Council estimates the city’s first European final could still be worth €25 million to the local economy.

UEFA calculates that hosting the final is worth between €20m and €30m to a local economy, based on the stadium hosting the final having a capacity of 50,000.

“The €25m estimate is in the middle of these two figures and is still valid,” said a spokesman for the city council this week. With three Portuguese clubs and just one Spanish team left in the shake-up, the knock-on effect for tourism is unlikely to be as significant as was initially forecast when Dublin landed the final, however, given that the top six European countries regarded as key tourism markets for Ireland are the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy.

However, the city and the country will still be hoping to make the most of a major sporting event expected to draw 35,000 visitors and be watched by a TV audience in the region of 38 million.