Union Cycliste
Internationale
Events economic impact report
Annual review of 2022

Disclaimer
This report was prepared by Ernst & Young LLP for Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) using information provided by UCI and other primary datacollected by EY.
Ernst & Young LLP does not accept or assume any responsibility in respect of the Report to any readers of the Report (Third Parties), other thanUCI. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Ernst & Young LLP will accept no liability in respect of the Report to any Third Parties. Should any Third
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Ernst & Young LLP has not been instructed by its client, UCI, to respond to queries or requests for information from any Third Party and Ernst &Young LLP shall not respond to such queries or requests for information. Further Ernst & Young LLP is not instructed by the UCI to update theReport for subsequent events or additional work (if any) performed by Ernst & Young LLP. Accordingly, without prejudice to the generality of theforegoing, Ernst & Young LLP accepts no responsibility to any Third Party to update the Report for such matters.
Ernst & Young LLP reserves all rights in the Report.

In this report
1. Executive summary

4

2. Wollongong (AUS) — UCI Road World 		
8Championships

3. Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FRA) —Tissot UCI Track World Championships

4. Methodology

14
13

20

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 |3

01

Executive
summary
4| Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

In 2022, UCI
events werestaged across
26 countries
UCI events bring millions of people together each year
to celebrate the sporting achievements of both Elite
and Amateur athletes, attracting spectators and wider
audiences from across the globe.
2022 saw the full removal of travel restrictions acrosslarge parts of the world, enabling the UCI WorldChampionships to draw visitors from across the world.
The UCI’s schedule included events spanning all fivecontinents, encompassing all cycling disciplines andranged from events such as the UCI Indoor Cycling
World Championships to the UCI Urban Cycling WorldChampionships. This variety allowed UCI events toagain reach a wide and diverse audience, with different
levels of operational support and investment required toachieve success.

Cycling events drive significant
economic and social impacts
These events provide a platform for the participating
athletes and teams to test their abilities and offer the
event hosts an opportunity to showcase their region,
attracting significant numbers of new visitors and often
large numbers of professionals and volunteers to deliver
the event.

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 |5

The UCI delivered 93 events across
26 countries1
Selected UCI events from 2022
Fayetteville Arkansas, USA

Gent, Belgium

Haderslev, Denmark

2022 UCI Para-cycling Track
World Championships

2022 UCI Indoor Cycling
World Championships

2022 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon
World Championships

Baie-Comeau, Canada
2022 UCI Para Cycling Road
World Championships

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines —France2022 Tissot UCI Para-Cycling
World Championships

Saint-Quentin-enYvelines — France
2022 Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships
12–16 OctoberHigh levels of spending in SaintQuentin-en-Yvelines generated a boostof €3.5mn for the local economy.
Unique spectators
International visitors
GVA impact

Key
UCI events
covered by EY
Other UCI WorldChampionships

Tel Aviv, Israel
2022 UCI Junior Track
World Championships

10,6004,100€3.5mnEmployment impact

89

Average visitor stay

4 nights

Daily spend per visitor€160

Nantes, France
2022 UCI BMX Racing
World Championships
Les Gets, France
UCI Mountain Bike
World Championships —XCO/XCC/XCR/E-MTB/DHI

Santiago, Chile

Barcelona, Spain

Red Bull UCI Pump Track
World Championships

UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator
World Championships

1. The map shows the 2022 UCI World Championships. The economic impact of two events highlighted have been assessed by EY.
6| Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

93

5,630

Representatives of€39mn

total events
hosted110

nations took part in
UCI events

people competed in
UCI events

economic impact
generated by twoevents alone

This report explores the economic impact of UCI WorldChampionships events in 2022. The findings summarised
within this report are based on research conducted by EY
on behalf of the UCI throughout 2022.
In particular, this report focuses on four main channels thatdrive economic impact:•

Visitors: who spend money on local goods andservices, boosting the host economy.

•

Wollongong —Australia

Media and teams: who spend time in the host region
while competing and covering the event.

•2022 UCI Road
World Championships
18–25 September

Event delivery: including the spending of event
partners, and other activity required to stage the event.

•

Event engagement: the sporting, personal, tourism
and business connections made through the event andhow they drive future economic activity.

Wollongong delivered high attendee
satisfaction and a €35.6mn boost to the
local economy.
Unique spectators
Non-local visitors
GVA impact

96,00040,500€35.6mn

Employment impact

930

Average visitor stay

5 nights

Daily spend per visitor€140

The report provides detail on each of the events, while theappendix summarises the economic impact methodology.
Two impact measures in particular are used within thisreport:•Gross Value Added (GVA): a measure of economic
activity typically used to measure activities taking
place below the national level, such as state/region,industry/sector, or individual business or event. GVA
can be viewed as the incremental contribution to Gross
Domestic Product.

•

Employment: employment impacts are presented
in terms of annual employment equivalents. The
employment supported in the period immediately
surrounding the event may therefore be larger.

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 |7

02

Wollongong(AUS)
UCI Road WorldChampionships
8| Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

Over 96,000 unique spectators
attended the UCI World Championships
in Australia, contributing €35.6mn
to the local economy
Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 |9

The UCI Road World Championships

Drivers of economic impact

2022 brought the flagship event of road cycling to Wollongong
in Australia. Thousands of visitors travelled to Wollongong —just 80km away from Sydney — along with competitors fromover 70 nations, media and officials to attend one of theworld’s top sporting events showcasing both Wollongong andAustralia to an international audience. Annemiek van Vleutenof the Netherlands claimed gold in the Women Elite road race,
whilst Belgian Remco Evenepoel secured victory in the Men
Elite road race.

Total attendance over the course of the event reached
236,000, including 96,000 unique attendees. 41,000 of thesewere from outside of the region.3

These events bring together the best road cycling athletes fromaround the world to compete in road races, individual timetrials and the team time trial mixed relay, on the roads, streets
and avenues of the host towns, cities and regions. This format
brings unique course management challenges, but also presentscompetitors with the opportunity to compete in spectacularlocations celebrating the sport’s unique blend of athleticism andadrenaline. The 2022 edition encompassed a technical time trial
course centred on Wollongong, with elevation-heavy road races
taking in the coast and challenging climbs.2
Competitors representing 73 nations in total participated in
the event, which took place between Sunday 18 and Sunday
25 September. The largest contingents came from Italy (51),Germany and the Netherlands with 47 members each, whilst
eleven nations were represented by just a single member.

Wollongong in New South Wales
Wollongong is a city on the New South Wales coast of Australia,
about 80km south of Sydney. It’s the 10th largest city inAustralia by population, as home to over 300,000 people.

Visitor spending averaged €137 per visitor per night for
non-local attendees and €203 per visitor per night forinternational attendees. Combined with the spending of
media visitors and almost 1,000 riders, the UCI Road WorldChampionships generated an impact of €35.6m.
Visitors underpinned 82% of the economic impact, throughtheir spending during their stay in the region. The remaining
impact was equally split between event delivery, and visiting
media and teams.

€35.6mn
total GVA impact fromthe UCI Road WorldChampionships

930

total employment impact
supported by the UCI Road
World Championships

236,000

96,000uniquespectators

total event
attendance€27.7mn
total visitor
spend

What made Wollongong unique?
2022 was just the second time that the UCI Road WorldChampionships have been held in Australia, meaninginternational travellers had (on average) further to travel
than in most years. Despite this, 37% of visitors came fromoverseas, well in excess of the proportions seen at previous
UCI Road World Championships in Flanders (Belgium) andYorkshire (Great Britain).

Melbourne
Canberra
Wollongong
SydneyVisitors to Wollongong spent €140 per night on average,exceeding the expenditure seen at previous events in Flanders,
Yorkshire and Innsbruck (Austria).

2. Cyclingnews.com; UCI.org
3. Unique visitors, rather than unique spectators, are the main driver of the economic impact. This is because unique spectator figures include
residents from within Wollongong, whose expenditure throughout the course of the event is not considered additional to the region.
10 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

Breakdown of GVA impacts
by source

UCI Road WorldChampionships in
Wollongong origin of
spectators at the event

Online engagement with the UCI Road WorldChampionships was also successful, as social media
coverage reached wider audiences.

5%

Instagram

9%
9%

7.5mn

impressions

17.1mnvideo views

37%
58%

82%

Visitor spend

Local

Event delivery

Non-local

Media and teams

International

Overall, the event achieved high satisfaction levels, with 97%
of attendees satisfied with the event. Both non-local andinternational visitors were enthusiastic about the event, andthis translated into positivity about Wollongong as a holiday
destination, with 74% of international and 88% of non-local
visitors likely to recommend the region for a holiday.

Twitter

14.3mnFacebook

14.3mnimpressions

total reach

3.5mn

video views

5.5mn

video views

The UCI Road World Championships
were broadcast in 59 countries, with acumulative audience of 132 million.

UCI Road World Championships events:
Road Race — Women Elite, Men Elite, Men U23,
Women Junior, Men Junior.
Time Trial — Women Elite, Men Elite, Men U23, Women
Junior, Men Junior, Mixed Relay.
Participation by gender

Men

Women

597

370

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 11

Average visitor spend per person per night,
by category (€)€87

Accommodation

€65
€57

Food and drink€36

Non-local visitors from elsewhere in Australia stayed for lesstime, 5 days on average, but still spent a reasonably large
amount per night.

€22
€14

Transport

Visitor spend throughout the event was relatively high, withinternational visitors staying for an average of 6.2 nights,
driven by the often very large distances travelled to the event.
While in the country international visitors spent over €200 perperson per day. Most of the spend was on accommodation,
at over €80 per night, with food and drink the next largest
category at almost €60 per day.

€12
€9

Merchandise

Average number of nights stayed€13

Tourism

€4
€13
€9

Other
€0

€20

International

€40

€60

€80

Non-local

12 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

€100

OriginLength ofstay (nights)

Daily spending
per visitor (€)

International visitors

6.2

203

Non-local visitors

4.9

137

Figures in table may not reconcile with chart due to rounding.

UnionUnionCycliste
CyclisteInternationale
Internationalecycling
cyclingevents
eventsAnnual
Annualreview
reviewofof20222022 | 13

14 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

03Saint-Quentin-enYvelines (FRA)
Tissot UCI Track
World Championships
Attendance of 11,000 uniquespectators at the event, and a total
audience of 145m people, contributing€3.5mn to the local economy
Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 15

Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships and Tissot
UCI Track Nations Cup

Milton, Canada
2022 Tissot UCI Track
Nations Cup

The Tissot UCI Track World Championships
is an annual event in which the world’s elite
cyclists compete in track races. The event
has been held in 16 different countries.
The 2022 event was the 17th time the UCI
Track World Championships had been held
in France, more than any other country. It
was the second year in a row for France tohost the Championships.
Riders from 50 nations competed in the
Tissot UCI Track World Championships
in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. The largest
contingent of riders came from Italy, with24 competitors, followed by Germany with
21. 14 national teams were represented bya single competitor.
In addition to the Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships, the Tissot UCI Track
Nations Cup takes place each year. This
series of events provides professional
cyclists with the opportunity to compete forpoints throughout the season, which thendetermine each rider’s ranking within eachspeciality. In 2022 the three rounds were
held in three different countries: Colombia,
Canada and Great Britain.

Cali, Colombia
2022 Tissot UCI Track
Nations Cup

Key
Tissot UCI Track World Championships
Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup

16 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

Glasgow, Great Britain
2022 Tissot UCI Track
Nations Cup

2022 Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships Events:
Kerin
MadisonOmniumPoints race
Individual pursuit
Team pursuit
Scratch race
Sprint, team sprint

SaintQuentin-enYvelinesFrance

Time trial
Elimination race
Participation by gender2022 Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships
12–16 October

Men

High levels of spending inSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
generated a boost of €3.5mn
for the local economy.

Women

Unique spectators

10,600International visitors

4,100

GVA impact

212

162

€3.5mnEmployment impact

89

Average visitor stay

4 nights

Daily spend per visitor€153

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 17

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines is a suburban town and a commune in
the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It
is located about 20 km southwest of Paris and covers an area of
25.6 square kilometres. Being one of the five original new towns
of Paris, it is home to a population of 228,000 people making it
one the more populous suburban towns in the region.

Drivers of economic impact
Total attendance over the course of the five day event reached17,000, including 11,000 unique attendees, each spending
an average of 1.6 days at the event. Over 4,000 of these werefrom outside of the region.4
Visitor spending averaged €186 per visitor per night forinternational attendees and €120 per visitor per night for
non-local attendees. Combined with the spending of 237
media staff, 757 team members and the operational deliveryof the Championships, this drove €3.5mn of economic activity
in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and the surrounding region;
equivalent to supporting 89 jobs.

€3.5mntotal GVA impact from the
Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships

Visitors underpinned 40% of the economic impact, throughtheir spending during their stay in the region. The remaining
impact was supported by media personnel and teams visitors(48%) and operational delivery of the event itself (12%).

11,000media staff covered
the event757

members ofcompeting teams€212k

total visiting media
spend€1.8mntotal visiting teamspend

Source: EY analysis

total event
attendance

uniquespectators

Breakdown of GVA impacts
by source

The event was also particularly popular domestically,
with 91% of attendees being locals or non-locals, a higher
percentage than past UCI Track World Championships in Berlinand Apeldoorn.

237

total employment impact
supported by the Tissot UCI
Track World Championships

17,000What made Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
unique?
The event in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines — the first Tissot UCI
Track World Championships to be free of Covid restrictions since2019 — drew in a significant number of visitors over its five
day duration, with visitor spend totalling €3.7mn. This wasnotably higher than the visitor spend observed in previous UCI
Track World Championships held in Berlin, Germany, in 2020(€1.3mn) and Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, in 2019 (€0.9mn).

89€3.7mntotal visitor
spend

Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships in SaintQuentin-en-Yvelines originof spectators
9%

40%
48%

30%

61%
12%
Visitor spend

Local spectators

Event delivery

Non-local

Media and teams

International

Source: EY analysis

4. Unique visitors, rather than unique spectators, are the main driver of the economic impact. This is because unique spectator figures include
residents from within Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, whose expenditure throughout the course of the event is not considered additional to the region.
18 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

Visitor surveys5 suggest that around 4,000 attendees were
estimated to have originated from outside of Saint-Quentinen-Yvelines; of those, 900 travelled from abroad. The majority
of international visitors came from Europe (80%), followed by
North America (15%).6

Online engagement with the Tissot UCI Track WorldChampionships was also successful, as social media
coverage reached wider audiences.

The international visitors were primarily from the surrounding
countries of Belgium, the United Kingdom, and theNetherlands. They stayed for almost 5 days on average, twice
as long as visitors from other areas of France.

Instagram

5.8mn

impressions

5.3mn

video views

Average number of nights stayed
OriginLength ofstay (nights)

Daily spending
per visitor (€)

International visitors

4.8

186

Non-local visitors

2.3

120

Figures in table may not reconcile with chart due to rounding.

Origin of international visitors by continent (%)7
80%

15%

Twitter

Facebook

3.7mn

impressions

7.8mn
total reach

1.0mn

video views

2.4mn

video views

<1%

<1%
<1%
4%

Origin of international visitors by country (%)

5%

5%

4%

4%

4%

2%

2%

2%

2%
Sweden9%

Poland11%

10%Germany

15%

Trinidad and Tobago

16%

Australia

20% 20%

Switzerland

20%

Denmark

25%

USA

Canada

Italy

Netherlands

United Kingdom

Belgium

0%5. Primary research was conducted to estimate the number of visitors travelling to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines over the course of the event and theirspending patterns, as well as activities undertaken during their stay. This involved gathering information from spectators during and after the
event, as well as from media personnel and race team members.
6. Numbers do not sum to total due to rounding.
7. International visitor origin analysis is indicative and based on a spectator survey sample.
Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 19

04

Methodology
20 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

Impact measurement methodology
The economic impacts are broken down into three categories:•

Visitor spending•

Media and teams•

Event delivery

Within each of these categories, direct, indirect and induced
impacts have been estimated, while event engagement is based on
attendee and visitor feedback.

s
or
t
i
s
Vi

Me
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an
dt
ea
ms
Ind
uc
ed
Ind
ire
ct
Dir
ec
t

Total
Impact

Ev
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Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 21

Direct spending in the host cityand region
The direct impacts for both visitor spending and media andteams are informed by primary research into visitor, media andteam profiles and spending patterns, combined with secondary
sources on attendance and accreditations. The impact studies
focus only on the impacts of spending that is judged to be
additional to the host locality. In particular:•

Visitor impacts (non-local and international residents)
include only the spending of visitors who identify the eventas the main purpose of their visit•

Media and teams’ impacts exclude the spending of local
media professionals•

Event delivery impacts include only the costs incurred in
the host locality•

Government-funded spending in the region is excluded
from the impact analysis, since this spending may haveoccurred at another time in the absence of the event.

SourcesPrimary research methodology
Extensive primary research was conducted to build up
an understanding of the economic activity supported byeach UCI event, including the spending patterns of visitors
and the activities undertaken during their stay. This
involved conducting survey interviews and sharing online
questionnaires with three groups of people during the courseof each event:•

Spectators

•

Teams

•

Media

Survey questions covered areas such as:•

Origin of respondent•

Size of their party•

Length of stay in the host locality•

Experience of event•

Activities undertaken

22 | Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022

The results of spectator surveys were weighted according
to the estimated origins of the total spectator population.
Depending on the event, this information was obtained
through ticket purchaser information, a larger sample
origination survey, and secondary information held by
the UCI or the event organisers. For media and teams,
appropriate survey weightings were based on official
accreditation information.

Secondary research
Additional information from the following sources was also
used to inform the impact assessments:
UCI•

Official accreditation information, to calculate directspending in the host city and region.

•

Information related to broadcasting and social media
activity associated with the events, to understand thewider reach.

Local organising committees•

Attendance/ticketing statistics, to calculate direct spending
in the host city and region.

•

The investment and operational costs to host the events,
and the sources of funding.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development••

National and regional economic accounts were used tounderstand the links between the event and the wider hosteconomies for the purposes of calculating direct, indirect
and induced impacts.
Due to the lack of detailed data availability for Abu Dhabi
and the UAE, data has been drawn from Saudi Arabiannational accounts collated by the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development as a proxy for thenational UAE economy, and from Kuwaiti National Accounts
published by their Central Statistical Bureau as a proxy forthe local Abu Dhabi economy.

Direct economic impacts
Once the direct spending impacts in the host locality havebeen estimated, they are categorised according to their
specific sector of the economy. This allows spending figures
to be translated into sector-by-sector estimates of direct
impacts on employment and Gross Value Added (GVA). Theseestimates are based on the ratios of GVA and employment to
output by sector, taken from local economic accounts.
Indirect and induced impacts
Indirect and induced impacts are calculated using EY’s
economic impact model, which estimates the GVA andemployment ‘effects’ driven by direct sector spending. These
effects show the additional impact on the host locality’s
economy for each €1 of spending resulting from the event.
The effects are driven by the structure of the local economy,
including the extent to which the local economy relies upon
imports from abroad and from elsewhere in the host country.
This follows the input-output framework pioneered by
Wassily Leontief, and is based on national and local economic
accounts.

Further considerations
The approach taken to economic impact measurement iseffective in understanding the key drivers behind the economic
impact of each event. This includes accounting for impacts
which may occur without the events having taken place.
A number of factors could be not be fully captured within
the approach to this study given the information available,in particular:
Consumer welfare
Where there is a positive difference between the amountthat a consumer is willing to pay for a good or service andthe amount actually paid, this results in a positive impact on
consumer welfare. An indication of this potentially positive
impact could be captured through the surveys of spectators
attitudes, though this does not necessarily capture the viewsof all local residents.
Social benefits
Impacts resulting from increased physical activity andgeneral wellbeing that may be derived from increased sports
participation supported by the events are not quantified aspart of this study, thought there is evidence that major events
can drive such impacts.
Economic and social costs
Disruption, such as to the transport network, which may
in turn result in reduced economic activity, is not explicitly
captured within this study. However, is it likely that the
majority of economic activity that is disrupted over the courseof the events will be displaced to periods prior or following
the events, while the approach to additionality aims to include
only impacts that are net additions to the region. Analysisof environmental costs and benefits was outside the scopeof the study.
Additionality
As far as possible, this study seeks to include only thoseeconomic impacts which are additional to the host regions.
As a result, only the impacts of expenditure from outside of
the host regions are included within the overall impact. To theextent that the events have actively discouraged visitors into
the host region, this may reduce the impacts from those statedwithin this report.

Union Cycliste Internationale cycling events Annual review of 2022 | 23

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