International conference “Economic Dimension of Sport” on 21 September 2018

120 experts discussed the contribution of sport to the European economy

“Sport is an important economic factor and Austria is the European champion of sports tourism. This can obviously also be attributed to winter sports. But even if this sector is factored out, Austria still lies high above the European average.  In Austria, the contribution of sport to GDP is around twice as high as the European average”,

Vice‑Chancellor and Federal Minister for the Civil Service and Sport Heinz‑Christian Strache said at the opening of the international conference “Economic Dimension of Sport” in Vienna.

Sport is very important for society and promoting health; but if the potential of sport is harnessed across Europe, its economic impetus is also tremendously important. This was the participants' fundamental consensus at the conference entitled “Economic Dimension of Sport, Sport for Growth and Employment”, which took place under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the Hotel Imperial Riding School in Vienna on 21 September. Approximately 120 national and international business, innovation and statistics experts from nearly all member states of the European Union participated in this conference.

In his opening statement, Vice‑Chancellor Strache highlighted, among other things, the importance of sport for economic growth on a small‑scale, regional level as well as the importance of the innovative component of sport as a driver of economic growth.

“In particular, we have to place the diverse economic and social added value of sport and exercise at the centre of our efforts”, Heinz‑Christian Strache said.

The conference focussed on identifying current problems, discussing possible approaches and developing ideas about how to even better quantify and present the entire economic dimension of sport in the future.

Official photos of this event will be published on the official Flickr channel.