Fears over economic hit to city as Swans poised to leave the top flight
SWANSEA City’s looming relegation has led to concerns about the local economy from the city’s business leaders.
According to the Welsh Economy Research Unit at Cardiff University, Swansea’s first season in the Premier League was worth a staggering £58m to the local economy, which included the creation of 400 jobs.
In addition, the total economic value to Wales, in one season, of the Swans being in the top flight was an estimated £58.6m, with £50.6m of the economic benefit created by the Swans.
The non-football-club activity generated around £7.9m of economic impact, creating or safeguarding an estimated 95 jobs, most of them in Swansea.
It has been considered exceptionally important to the city, with teams always bringing a large amount of support, meaning great business for restaurants, transportation and hotels.
It has also put the world’s attention on the city itself, with more than a billion people worldwide watching the Premier League every week.
The substantial broadcast television income is an important source of external financial flows to the home region.
With the Swans set to play their last Premier League game against Stoke at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow, those who have benefited most from the club’s success have had their say on the future.
Swansea council leader Rob Stewart said: “For me there are two aspects to the Swans going down.
“There’s obviously the growth of global awareness, and Premier League status brought that. It is very hard to measure but clearly has a direct benefit to the city and the region and something we will feel the impact of.
“In terms of direct economical impact, there is obviously the travelling fans who would stay in the city. We will still get fans travelling in reasonably big numbers in the Championship but clearly this is not where any of us want to be.
“The last figure we had of economical impact was £65 million to the region. I am not sure all will be lost, but being seen on the world stage with games watched by a billion people, you can’t buy that publicity.”
Chairwoman of Swansea BID (Business Improvement District) Juliet Luporini said: “We are all saddened to see Swansea City leave the Premier League and our support goes out to the team. The Swans have weathered tough times before and emerged intact and I know there will be more glory days for the team in the future. Of course everyone who loves the city and who is passionate about its prosperity and its future is concerned about the impact this news will have upon the local economy, as we are here at Swansea BID.
“It is more important than ever that the regeneration of Swansea city centre presses on and that we all continue to support what will be the biggest programme of regeneration in Swansea’s history.
“It is pleasing to see this work taking shape as we speak – in the Kingsway and in Orchard Street and Oxford Street.
“The regeneration work will deliver a new era for Swansea, with exciting visitor attractions that will help to support the city – like the 2,500-seat digital arena, new retail units and a high-end hotel.
“Thousands of jobs are expected to be created by the regeneration and its new facilities. Add to this the boost in investor confidence the regeneration works will bring.”
The general manager of the Ibis in Port Tennant, Kate Davies, said travelling fans use the hotel, and discussed the impact it could have on the hotel and the wider city.
“Obviously it’s going to affect the city and hotels as well,” she said. “We do get four or five rooms filled from travelling fans and that multiplies by the number of home games.
“It will have an effect on the economy of Swansea. However, you never know what they are going to do. Sometimes at the top it’s very easy to sit back and relax and when you go to the bottom you have to work a lot harder.”
But operations manager for The Dragon Hotel, Chris Honey-Jones, said relegation may have a positive impact on business.
“I don’t know how much of an impact it’s going to have on us, as Championship clubs still have an away following,” he said. We do have a big Dutch contingent staying here from Den Haag so there’s a question whether they will still, but my thoughts are that they will because they did when the Swans weren’t in the Premier League.
“In the Championship there are more games and a lot of midweek games, so that could help us.”