Tour de Yorkshire 2018 boosts economy by £98 million

The 2018 Tour de Yorkshire boosted the county’s economy by £98 million, according to independent research.

A record 2.6 million spectators lined the route over the four days of action between 3rd-6th May and overall spend was up 54 per cent from 2017 to £97,973,806.

Accommodation spend also increased 49 per cent year-on-year, while non-accommodation items such as food and drink, souvenirs and transport was up by 58 per cent.

Sir Gary Verity, CEO, Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This is absolutely tremendous news for the Tour de Yorkshire and for the county as a whole.

“The prestige of hosting the world’s best riders is just one part of why we organise the Tour de Yorkshire but this is so much more than a bike race. The benefits it brings to Yorkshire are innumerable.

“These figures support the feedback we received from right along the race route. In Garforth, for instance, businesses reported two weeks’ earnings in the space of 24 hours, in Richmond, all 12 cash machines ran out of money on the day they hosted the start of stage three and in Beverley, cafes there told us they’d had their busiest day all year. It’s news like this which makes us so proud, and so passionate about building on these successes in the future.

“The Tour de Yorkshire is about bringing communities together as well and the way people turned out to support this year’s race was truly overwhelming. The county has taken the event thoroughly to its heart and we’ll work hard to ensure it keeps on going from strength to strength.”