SMEs must make the most of sporting success
Last week, Wales came together to welcome Geraint Thomas home from his stunning win at the Tour de France. As a nation, we have many times seen sport bring us together and help us demonstrate exactly who we are and what our Welsh brand means on an international stage.
Not only is Geraint Thomas one of only three Welsh men to ride in the Tour de France, he was the first to win it. This huge success and the ensuing celebrations have united people across Wales and have once again brought the world’s attention to our country. It has also provided a boost for the suggestion that Wales would play host to part of the Giro d’Italia in 2020. This would have a knock-on impact for our culture and economy, and would enable Welsh firms to benefit from the increase in tourists – both international and from the UK – who would be attracted to the event.
In recent years Wales has played host to a number of sporting success stories and national highlights, and our SMEs – who reflect the culture, diversity and dynamism of what it means to be Welsh – have played an important role in this. Businesses benefitted from Swansea’s promotion to the Premier League in 2011 in a number of ways, not least because the opportunity for the city to be profiled on an international stage brought more attention and new visitors to the area. Whilst Swansea were unfortunately relegated this year, Cardiff City have now been promoted to the Premier League. This was a huge result, both for the club and the city, and is another opportunity for businesses in the city to tap into a new market opened up by the club’s promotion.
So how do we ensure that SMEs can continue to benefit from sporting events and success in Wales?
Earlier this year, as part of our report Croeso i Gymru: The Economic Impact of Tourism in Wales, FSB undertook a survey of our members who were engaged in tourism in order to start this conversation. Many of our members welcomed “thematic years” such as Year of the Sea and Year of the Legend and suggested that this had worked well. This kind of campaigning by Welsh Government on attracting new visitors to Wales is a welcome way to tap into our rich culture and identity.
Tourists currently spend approximately £5.1bn a year in Wales, split between 10 million trips from elsewhere in Great Britain, and 970,000 people visiting from around the world. Given that Welsh Government has named tourism as a foundational sector in the recent Economic Action Plan this should be a base upon which we can build in order to benefit our economy – both nationally and locally. Tapping into sporting and cultural events should be an important part of this.
There are numerous opportunities to further link sport, the Welsh brand and our thriving business community in coming years. With 2019 being badged as the Year of Adventure, I hope to see that this provides us with even more opportunities to promote our business community as we continue to make the case for Wales on the world stage. FSB will seek to be leading the charge on this by carrying out more work on Wales’ international brand.
Our thriving SME community have always played a huge role in promoting Wales internationally. Whether as exporters, working in the tourism industry or helping to promote the Welsh language, smaller firms are demonstrating the very best of what it means to be Welsh. We want to make sure that as a nation we can continue to benefit from the huge sporting achievements in recent years, as well as attracting new opportunities for our SMEs to exploit.
■ Ben Francis is Welsh Policy Chair of FSB Wales