Dubai: Last year’s DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates delivered a US$44 million gross economic benefit to Dubai, according to independent research commissioned by tournament organisers, the European Tour.

In addition to the economic impact, the DP World Tour Championship delivered a US$280 million marketing benefit for Dubai from global television exposure. That figure was derived from analysing 1,220 cumulative live TV broadcast hours across 51 broadcasters with a global audience reach of 458 million households.
Researchers from international marketing research agency Repucom surveyed a sample of the 55,000 spectators who attended the DP World Tour Championship to reach their economic impact findings.
Spectator expenditure comprised 73% of the Direct Economic Impact on Dubai with contractors the second most significant group, contributing 15% of the value. Hospitality guests, media, volunteers, management, staff and players also contributed to the total spend.
The report also revealed the following:

• 31% of spectators were from outside Dubai.
• 43% were Primary Visitors – the DP World Tour Championship was their main reason/a reason combined with other events for travelling to Dubai.
• 85% of spectators that used paid-for accommodation stayed in hotels including Atlantis, The Palm, the tournament’s Official Hotel, and 12% stayed in serviced apartments for an average of three nights.
• 49% of Primary non-Dubai visitors spent money away from the event on shopping and 24% spent money on other tourist attractions/entertainment during their stay.
• 50% of Primary non-Dubai visitors extended their stay for an average of five additional nights.

Further to the economic impact figure, the DP World Tour Championship has delivered further monies to Dubai through air travel and golf tourism as follows:

• 27% of Primary non-Dubai visitors to the tournament travelled to Dubai via Emirates – a Premium Partner of the tournament – the equivalent of 2,500+ additional flights.
• 40% of spectators said they would definitely return to play golf at Jumeirah Golf Estates in the future as a result of attending the event. This sentiment will have a knock-on effect on other Dubai golf courses, therefore benefitting the Dubai economy further overall.

Mohammed Sharaf, Group Chief Executive Officer of DP World, said: “We are very proud to be part of such a significant global sporting event and that the findings demonstrate the scope and scale of the positive impact the tournament has on the economy and global awareness of Dubai.”
Yousuf Kazim, General Manager of Jumeirah Golf Estates, said: “We are delighted to be the host venue for the tournament for the sixth year running and to be supporting golf tourism in Dubai. The DP World Tour Championship will continue to be held at Jumeirah Golf Estates until at least 2017 and we look forward to helping Dubai reach its target of 20 million tourists by 2020.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “We look forward to the DP World Tour Championship continuing to be the successful season-ending event of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai for many years to come and delivering such substantial golf and tourism benefits to Dubai’s economy.”
Last year’s DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates was won by Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who also secured The Race to Dubai title and the mantle of European Tour number one.
This year’s US$8 million DP World Tour Championship will take place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 20-23.