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Football

Discover the importance of football to inbound tourism in Britain - including volume, value and market-specific trends.

Introduction

Watching a live football match is a popular activity for international visitors to Britain – as well as other football-related experiences such as stadium tours and special events.

In 2019, we sponsored a question in the Office for National Statistics’ International Passenger Survey (IPS) which explored inbound football tourism. Watch the highlight video and discover the report findings below.

Football in the UK

The results from the IPS revealed that 1.5 million inbound visitors went to a live football match in 2019 – around one in every 27 visitors. Of all the sports experiences that Britain offers, it is the chance to experience a live football match that attracts the largest volume of overseas visitors.

Report highlights

  • While the Irish Republic was the market that generates the most football-watching visits to the UK, Iceland and Norway took top spots when considering propensity to go to a live football match – with 13% and 12% of all visits respectively featuring live football.
  • The average spend per visit for football spectators in 2019 was £909, which was 31% higher than the average UK visitor (£696), demonstrating their high value to the UK economy.
  • Around one quarter of those attending a football match said the main reason for visiting the UK was to watch sport – equating to 353,000 visits. Among the remaining visitors who went to a football match in 2019, 38% were in the UK for holiday purposes and 27% here to visit friends/relatives. Meanwhile 6% were here for business visits, which is equal to 94,000 visits inclusive of a football match.
  • Of the visitors who gave their primary journey purpose to the UK to ‘watch sport’, 62% attended a football match, confirming that football is the sport that attracts the largest volume of inbound visitors.
PDF

Foresight 179 - Football Tourism in the UK.pdf

Access the full findings which cover football-related inbound tourism in the UK

Download (8.26 MB)

Regional spread of football tourism

Not only did football attract visitors to Britain, but it encouraged them to explore different parts of the country. In 2019, London attracted the largest volume of visitors to watch football; however, if we look at football visits as a proportion of all visits to each region, the leading area was the North West (18%) followed by the North East (7%).

A follow-up question in the survey showed that Old Trafford stadium in Manchester and Anfield in Liverpool had the highest attendance at 440,000 visits. The Emirates, Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium followed with a combined attendance of 425,000 inbound visitors.

The below table details the proportion of international visitors (%) who attended football matches during their stay.

Region% of visits including live footballRegion% of visits including live football
North West England18%Scotland3%
North East England7%East Midlands2%
Wales5%East of England2%
Yorkshire5%South West England2%
London3%South East England2%
West Midlands2%  

See the ‘Football Tourism in the UK’ report for the full findings.

Football amongst Experience Seekers

In 2018/19, we commissioned research on football tourism among Experience Seekers in six markets: Brazil, China, India, Norway, Sweden and the USA. The research aimed to better understand the impact and role of football on tourism, the attraction of English football for international tourists, and how to connect with this audience.

The survey asked international travellers who fit into the Experience Seekers (PDF, 1.34 MB) segment, who have some level of interest in football.

We found that in all markets surveyed, more than 80% of those who followed a foreign football league also followed the Premier League. Visitors were also more likely to have visited the UK to watch a Premier League match than a Champions League match, stressing the importance of this sporting competition.

Market-specific insights:

USA: Football was likely to be the main focus of the trip: six in 10 Americans who travelled to watch football abroad purchased their match tickets before booking the rest of the visit. Experiencing the atmosphere was a huge draw, with 70% of Americans citing it as a reason for going to watch football. They were also interested in experiencing ‘traditional Britain’, as seeing iconic sights and trying British food were in the top three activities that most interest American Experience Seekers.

Brazil: Brazilian football fans were most likely to follow teams with Brazilian players – and with such a rich national history of football, they were a key audience for sport tourism in the UK. Football was not always the initial driver, with 34% of football tickets bought after booking the trip; there was as much interest in doing a stadium tour (86%) as there was in seeing a live match (84%).

China: The Chinese market showed great potential, 92% of the respondents said they intended to visit the UK in the next two years and 85% agreeing that it would be a once in a lifetime trip. There was huge interest in other activities: 7 in 10 wanted to go on food and drink tours, and go shopping. Chinese football fans were heavily reliant on travel agent websites for inspiration and information about international travel.

Norway: Only 41% of Norwegian football fans said they have a strong interest in football, indicating that it was not the main draw for a trip to the UK. They were more likely to follow one team, with 47% being dedicated supporters. As they are more likely to have visited the UK before, efforts to convert interest into intention needed to focus on all the things on offer that they may not have experienced before.

Sweden: Similarly to Norwegians, Swedish football fans were less likely to be influenced by the football element of their trip. Swedish Experience Seekers enjoy the social aspect of the trip, where football is not the main focus but wanted to enhance their overall enjoyment of the trip by: experiencing festivals, pubs and other sporting events that were key to this market segment. They were as likely to watch a match in a pub (65%) as they were to want to go to a Premier League match (66%), and they enjoy football matches in a variety of ways.

India: An ideal holiday for Indian football fans would be to watch big matches or cup competitions as part of a multi-destination tour. 69% were only likely to consider travelling to Britain to watch football as part of an organised tour – and of those who watched a football match abroad, 68% visited more than one country on a previous trip. Interest in football-based activities such as playing football or fantasy football was high among Indian football fans. With the UK being the home of cricket and almost all Indian football fans also followed cricket (94%), and this could provide an opportunity for a combined offer.

PDF

foresight_169_-_football_tourism_2.pdf

Read the full findings in this report. Please note we referred to the segment as ‘Buzzseekers' in this report but this segment name was later changed to ‘Experience Seekers.’

Download (1.34 MB)

Further resources

Discover what types of activities and experiences domestic and inbound consumers are looking for while in England. And how these affect their choice of holiday destination.

West Midlands Growth Company

Two women, wearing denim, at a chocolate making workshop