Austria expects economic boost from Euro 2008

By Paul Bolding

VIENNA (Reuters) - When the roar of the crowds has faded and the bunting has been taken down, Austria expects to count a substantial economic benefit from next month's Euro 2008 soccer championship.

Economists working for the government put the value to the economy at 321 million euros ($492.1 million), equal to about 0.15 percent of annual GDP.

In addition, there will be net spending of 263 million euros and the equivalent of 6,000 jobs created for the duration of the June 7-29 event which Austria is jointly hosting with Switzerland.

Those numbers were likely to be substantially increased to a contribution of more than 0.2 percent to Austrian GDP and 10,000 jobs in the hospitality industry alone when the government publishes revised numbers before the start of the competition, an economist who worked on them told Reuters.

The respected German institute DIW said after the soccer World Cup in Germany in 2006 that the expected short-term positive economic impact failed to materialize. The government said it added about 0.3 percent to GDP.

However, soccer fans in Germany apparently spent about 50 percent more than other tourists and Austrian officials are hoping the same jangle of cash registers will echo around the country that gave the world Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Sachertorte.

Sectors set to benefit in Austria, according to the study for the government by SportsEconAustria, are mainly construction, tourism and services.

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