Live from Euro 2004
Euro gets cash rolling
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| A young woman passes by a giant billboard showing Portugese Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo and encouraging the Portugese selection for the Euro 2004 european nations football championships 08 June in Lisbon. The tournament will kick off 12 June in Porto with Portugal/Greece match. AFP PHOTO ADRIAN DENNIS |
Portugal expects the Euro 2004 finals which begin Saturday will give its key tourism industry a shot in the arm but the overall, longer-term impact of the tournament on the country's recession-hit economy is less clear.
The government estimates half a million tourists will travel to the country during the three-week tournament, generating 262 million euros (323 million dollars) in extra tourism revenue, mostly through spending on meals and accommodation.
Most hotels in Lisbon and second-city Oporto, where more than half of the matches will be played, are fully booked for the 16-team tournament.
The publicity which the world's third largest sporting event will generate for Portugal should continue to spark interest in travel to the country for years according to a UEFA study.
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| People use phone booths shaped as footballs, 09 June 2004 in the center of Faro ahead of the European Nations championship. Host Portugal will play 12 June 2004 in Porto the eURO 2004 opening game vs Greece. AFP PHOTO / DDP MARCUS BRANDT |
The governing body estimates this "Barcelona effect" -- a reference to the travel surge which the Spanish city enjoyed after it hosted the Olympics in 1992 -- will be worth between 179 and 357 million euros in the long-term to Portugal's tourism industry.
Hospitality sector officials however caution that the long-term effects on the nation's tourism industry, which employs 10 percent of all workers, will depend on the impression made during Euro 2004 -- and there is no guarantee it will be only positive.
Major improvements
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| A worker cut grass around the Estadio Algarve in Almancil in Portugal 09 June 2004 ahead of the 2004 European Nations Championship. Spain will play against Russia 12 June. AFP PHOTO - SVEN NACKSTRAND |
The government has gone out of its way to ensure the finals, the largest sports event ever held in Portugal, is a success.
Portugal, western Europe's poorest country, has built seven new stadiums and completely refurbished three others at a cost of some 650 million euros.
Another four billion euros has been spent to build access roads to the stadiums, boost airport and rail capacity and update hospitals to prepare for the tournament since Portugal won the right to host the finals in 1999.
In a study of the economic impact of Euro 2004, the DTZ consultancy said the construction of the 10 grounds alone would generate 244 million euros to Portugal's construction sector.
But the impact on Portugal's economy overall is harder to measure.
Portuguese private bank BPI estimates the spending on the tournament has added 0.2 percentage points to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in each year between 2000 and 2003 and could add 0.25 percentage points in 2004.
With Portugal struggling to rein in a ballooning public deficit, many in the nation of just over 10 million people believe money has been wasted on the tournament.