As football fans from all over the world settle down to enjoy their favourite sport when Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday, the tournament is geared up to be one of the most sustainable that there has ever been due to the fact that the arenas used for many of the matches will use minimal floodlighting and water usage. There will also be a number of smart games put on which will help to reduce the amount of travel that both players and fans need to undertake in order to get the chance to play as well as experience the competitive atmosphere.
With teams ranging from hosts Germany to Poland, there is bound to be a vast multicultural environment in which fans from all over the world can mix and form new relationships, some of which could last a life time. This all adds to the experience of being at the tournament and enjoying many of the interactive features and facilities that have been put together to help all fans enjoy the tournament experience as a whole.
A variety of the key features which have been put together to help put on the tournament include:
• Smart tournament schedules will reduce travel for players and fans. All Football stadiums to run on renewable energy with limits set on electricity usage
• Euromonitor reports says sustainability efforts will highly resonate with football fans and consumers
• Hosts, Germany set to see record tourism and spending of EUR47 billion
• Lidl, Bitburger and Wiesenhof, strong brands in the German market, join list of global sponsors
• Opportunities abound for UK and Ireland set to host the tournament in 2028
Justas Gedvilas, Sports and Entertainment Research Manager at Euromonitor International, said: “UEFA has pledged to make EURO 2024 the most environmentally sustainable European Championship ever. Tournament schedules have been built in a way that minimises travel between venue cities, while public transport users will enjoy discounts and other incentives to decrease dependency on cars and flying.
“All stadiums will be run with renewable energy with limits set on electricity usage including reduced floodlighting and pitch watering. Circular economy principles – reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering – will form the basis for waste management practices in and around venues.
“These practices will highly resonate among the football fans and consumers in general, as demonstrated by findings in Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey 2024. Reducing food waste and plastics use, and recycling items were identified by half of respondents globally as the way they enact green activities. Reducing energy consumption was selected in more than 40% of survey responses.”
There are a wide number of facilities which have been put in place at the tournament to help reduce the amount of waste that fans from different countries will leave once they have finished watching matches. This all helps to create the sustainable model and atmosphere which the hosts are aiming for. It also helps prevent more emissions of greenhouse gases which have been proven to cause global warming. With temperatures around the planet rising year on year, more has to be done to help prevent the melting of the polar ice caps and rising sea levels.
Euro 2024 is expected to attract a global audience of over 5 billion people, tuning in to watch the top European countries battle it out for the UEFA cup.
Caroline Bremner, Head of Travel and Tourism at Euromonitor International, said that according to Euromonitor’s latest travel forecasts, the outlook for tourism in Germany in 2024 off the back of Euro 2024 is rosy.
“International arrivals to Germany are set to exceed peak 2019 levels, reaching 42 million, with inbound tourism spending of EUR47 billion, reaching new highs for the destination. Arrivals are set to grow by 22% and value even stronger at 24% over 2023/2024, demonstrating how sports tourism can drive value creation, a key pillar of sustainability for communities and destinations.
“Berlin is predicted to welcome 6.2 million international visitors while Munich in second place is forecast to receive 4.3 million in 2024. The less well-known cities will see the strongest growth as visitors look to discover new destinations like Gelsenkirchen while guaranteed a match ticket. Domestic tourism will also receive a welcome boost, with sound growth of 9% for both trips and spending in 2024.”
The tournament kicks off when hosts Germany play Scotland on Friday evening.
