UEFA EURO 2024 to boost German economic growth by 0.1 pct

The UEFA EURO 2024 football championship is expected to bring an additional 1.07 billion U.S. dollars towards the German economy from visiting fans.

BERLIN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The UEFA EURO 2024 football championship is expected to bring an additional 1 billion euros (1.07 billion U.S. dollars) towards the German economy from visiting fans, the country's ifo Institute for Economic Research said Friday.

Around 600,000 additional international tourists are foreseen to visit Germany for the event, leading to 1.5 million extra overnight stays during the tournament, said ifo researcher Gerome Wolf, adding that it will boost sales in the country's hospitality industry.

The expected sales contributed by foreign football fans are expected to boost German economic output by around 0.1 percent in the second quarter, although service exports after the end of the EURO 2024 will fall back to normal levels in the third quarter, Wolf noted.

Hotels and restaurants in the cities hosting the tournament are confident for improved businesses during the event, with almost one in two of them hoping for positive results from the football championship, according to a survey by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA).

"Even if not all hosts benefit directly from a sporting mega-event of this kind, the potential positive effects in terms of brightening the mood in the country and strengthening Germany as a tourist destination should not be underestimated," said DEHOGA president Guido Zoellick.

It is the first time that Germany has hosted a major football event since the 2006 FIFA World Cup, once labeled by the Germans as a "summer fairy tale." ■