ACTIVE / ADVENTURE EURO 2008: BEFORE & AFTER
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Active / Adventure
EURO 2008: Before & After
Some may not remember, for some their memories will stay with them for years
– EURO 2008 is over. The football teams went home as well as the thousands of
fans. However, what about the people backstage – the hoteliers, the drivers, the
waiters and hundreds of more who hoped the championship would boost their
profits? Were their expectations met? Let’s read about this year’s EURO from
different perspectives.
S e ptemb er, 2008
Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
THE ORGANIZERS: THE BEST
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The latest figures:
● No fewer than 62 million visitors and 1.3 billion page views
were registered on the official website, www.euro2008.com
● At least 155 million TV viewers followed each of the 31
matches live
● 90 % of Swiss and 80 % of Austrians watched at least one
EURO 2008 match live on TV
● The TV viewing figures in Switzerland were up 29.9 % on
EURO 2004, and those in Austria were up 33.9 %
● With 2.1 million viewers, the Austria vs. Germany group-
stage match attracted a bigger audience than any other in
the history of the ORF (Austrian national broadcaster)
● A new TV record was set in Spain, where 14.5 million
watched the final live (compared with 12.2 million for the
World Cup final), while in Germany every EURO 2008
match was watched by at least 15.8 million viewers; the
(German) record was set by the Germany vs. Turkey semi-
final, watched by 29.6 million TV viewers (World Cup record:
29.7 million)
● The perimeter boards bearing the host city names were
visible for over seven hours during live broadcasts. This
represents an advertising value of about EUR 90 mil-
lion.
Euro 2008 SA COO Martin Kallen, who had the same posi-
tion for the previous tournament, made a direct comparison with
Portugal in 2004: «It would be fair to say that, from an organi-
sational perspective, we have greatly progressed and improved
Vienna Tourist Board Preparing in almost all areas.»
Since 2006, the Vienna Tourist Board was working vigorously
on the marketing of the EURO 2008. Appearances at interna- Marketing of Euro 2008
tional trade fairs and information on EURO 2008 at the Vienna Long before the opening ceremony, the Austrian National Tourist
Tourist Board website in various languages were only the begin- Office launched a host of activities related to the UEFA EURO 2008.
The ANTO Communication Package contained over 650 marketing
ning. A EURO 2008 brochure was produced, and a joint booklet activities four months before the kick-off. With the help of a special
budget made available by the Federal Ministry for Economics and
for all eight host cities was co-financed. In October 2007 the Labour (BMWA), the ANTO carried out a campaign as part of the
Vienna Tourist Board launched its EURO promotion campaign EURO 2008, with the focus on intensifying the promotion of Aus-
tria as a holiday destination in target markets.
«Vienna: Where the 2008 European Championship will be de- The ANTO was committed to filling travellers and travel trade pro-
cided» with print advertisements and a TV spot being shown on fessionals with enthusiasm for Austria using wide-ranging activities:
the Eurosport channel. http://www. vienna. info the PEP Offensive (Professional Education Programme) a variety of
attractive low-cost holiday packages for travel agents; the nomina-
One month since the UEFA EURO 2008 final, the organiz- tion of prominent Austrian expatriates as ‘UEFA EURO 2008 Am-
bassadors’, to stir up enthusiasm in their particular market; with
ers were drawing their conclusions in Zurich and Vienna. «We the production of 400,000 brochures entitled ‘Expect Emotions’,
set ourselves the challenge of organizing the best European printed in seven languages; multinational press trips and an exten-
sive image campaign using print, online and outdoor advertising
Championship final round. The results of studies and surveys with three special ANTO/EURO 2008 subjects; and with many ap-
pearances at trade fairs, tourism events and workshops promoting
show that we succeeded,» said Austrian FA president Friedrich Austria as a holiday destination on the occasion of the EURO 2008
Stickler, Swiss FA president Ralph M. Zloczower and Euro 2008 http://www.austria.info
SA COO Martin Kallen unanimously.
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
Vienna Tourist Board Preparing
Since 2006, the Vienna Tourist Board was working vigorously on the
marketing of the EURO 2008. Appearances at international trade
fairs and information on EURO 2008 at the Vienna Tourist Board
website in various languages were only the beginning. A EURO
2008 brochure was produced, and a joint booklet for all eight host
cities was co-financed. In October 2007 the Vienna Tourist Board
launched its EURO promotion campaign «Vienna: Where the 2008
European Championship will be decided» with print advertise-
ments and a TV spot being shown on the Eurosport channel.
http://www.vienna.info
transport, at a cost to Euro 2008 SA of EUR 5 million. In total,
4.4 million additional passengers travelled on the Austrian and
Swiss public transport networks during the final round (Austria
(ÖBB): 2.4m; Switzerland (SBB CFF FFS): 2m), and almost
8,700 additional trains were provided (Austria: 3,977; Switzer-
The biggest success factors at a glance: land: 4,700).
Income in all areas – from TV rights, through sponsorship Against the backdrop of the Respect campaign, EURO 2008
money, to ticketing – has increased significantly. Total income was also used as a platform for a series of new social respon-
was EUR 1.3 billion (800 million from media, 280 million from sibility projects, notably the Football for All matches between
commercial rights, 90 million from ticketing and 130 million from players with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, the
corporate hospitality). By way of comparison, total income from audio commentary service for blind and partially sighted spec-
EURO 2004 was 852 million, with 560 million from media rights, tators and, last but not least, EUROSCHOOLS 2008, through
183 million from commercial rights, 80 million from ticketing and which over 10,000 pupils from a total of 200 schools in Switzer-
29 million from corporate hospitality. The tournament income land, Austria and Liechtenstein participated in fair play football
benefits the entire European football family, with some of it be- tournaments and intercultural dialogue.
ing used to fund youth and women’s final tournaments and the
rest being distributed among UEFA’s 53 member associations
Photo: Vienna Tourist Board
in the form of lump-sum payments and project sponsorship.
http://euro2008.uefa.com/
UEFA EURO 2008 set new sustainability standards in the
public transport sector thanks to the special combi-ticket. Match
tickets could be used to travel to and from the match on public
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
WHAT REMAINS OF THE EURO
2008 IN BERNE?
A little more than one month after the stunning tournament
in Austria and Switzerland, I seldom hear people talking
about it anymore. The Bernese went back to their everyday life
Dutch tourists to Berne in the future. That all sounds quite sym-
bolic whatsoever and whether there will be an increase of Dutch
tourists in the near future just because the Elftal played two at-
soon after the Dutch had left the city only to loose against a tractive matches in the Stade de Suisse (and dropped out soon
venturously playing Sbornaja in Basel. after) is to doubt. Remember: it was only football.
The three days, on which Berne was host to the Elftal and to
tens of thousands of Dutch supporters, who coloured the capital European Fo otball Travel Survey of fo otball
fans by bud getairlinefo otball.co.uk
in orange, will be remembered as perhaps the greatest party What is the best city you have watched football in?
Berne ever had experienced. The gatherings of Dutch support- Amazingly the top answer here was Tel Aviv which got 8 % of the
ers (among them a lot of Swiss people wearing orange shirts votes, closely followed by Barcelona 7 %, Munich 7 % and Lisbon
6 %.
and supporting the Elftal due to the poor performance of the Is there one place you have gone abroad to watch football and would
Swiss national team) on Bundesplatz and Waisenhausplatz are never go back to?
Overwhelming answer on this one with over 70 % of the vote was
unforgettable. Moscow. In second place was Bratislava with 10 %, and Madrid with
5 %.
Still, one has to mention that in the end it was only football What information do you need to get before you travel abroad to
and that the «greatest party Berne ever experienced» implied watch a game?
first and foremost a lot of beer drinking men. It’s a matter of fact How to find and reach the stadium was the top answer with 82 % of
the answers, followed by public transport and ticket information
that during EURO 2008 the consumption of beer in Berne rose with 65 % each.
for some remarkable 10-20 %. For sure there were profits to On average how much do you spend a year on watching any football
abroad?
make in gastronomy, but was that all there was? No surprise here based on the miles we have covered watching Eng-
Soon after the Dutch had left Berne a huge ad appeared in land that over 75 % of people spend more than £1,200 per annum.
Only 6 % of people spend less than £400.
the capital’s daily newspapers thanking the city of Berne, its When you travel abroad to watch games, on average how many peo-
mayor and its inhabitants for warmly hosting the Dutch. Related ple travel with you?
Over 54 % of people travel in a group of 1 to 3. 31 % travel in a group
to this declaration of friendship, the city’s government intents of 4 to 8 and 12 % travel on their own.
to deepen contacts with the Netherlands in order to get more http://www.budgetairlinefoot ball.co.uk
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
Even though some say that the EURO 2008 in Austria and tors, the mere opportunity of presenting the city to a world wide
Switzerland has been the best tournament since the World audience within the scope of the EURO 2008 made these civil
Cup in México back in 1986, one has to admit that a European works possible.
championship still is just a European championship. It is indeed Other projects that are related to this development are the
a smaller issue than World Cups in football or Olympic Games. Zentrum Paul Klee or the new mall Westside. These civil works
I suppose that this mere fact had been overlooked by some represent direct or indirect outcomes of the fact that there were
people. three matches of an important football tournament played in
Public Viewing – as the collective watching of the matches on Berne. In the future these civil works will be considered signs of
public places oddly enough was called – was just exaggerated. a time of economic revival and perhaps they represent already
There were huge arenas with huge screens and huge bars, but now landmarks of a new self-confidence.
these arenas often remained empty. People expected too much Other people may just remember with a slight bitterness that
of the EURO 2008 and forgot that in the end it was only foot- Spain won the tournament. Not because they played the most
ball. attractive football and definitely deserved to be the champions,
Of course there are several things that remain of the EURO but because they played not a single match on Swiss soil on
2008 in Berne: I’m talking in the first instance about the struc- their way to the top. Whatsoever: it was only football.
tural measures taken in the city centre in the run-up to the tour-
nament. The whole area around the main station had been a By Daniel Plancic (plancic@gmail.com)
construction site for over one year. The project was closed just
Photo: Switzerland Tourism
one week before the start of the competition.
The new Bahnhofplatz together with the earlier constructed
Stade de Suisse are evidence for a new boldness in the capi-
tal’s will to move ahead in the 21st century. Besides other fac-
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
EURO 2008 – THE WINNERS
ARE… THE HOTELIERS
The ‘UEFA EURO 2008’ European football championship
provided sporting highlights and entertainment dur-
ing June for the European football fans. The influx of football
Stadium spectator survey
79 % were men
enthusiasts and tourists meant a good start to the summer for The average stay in Austria was for 3.6 nights and in Switzerland
it was for 3.4 nights. In Austria, visitors spent an average of EUR
hoteliers in the eight cities across Switzerland and Austria which 1,327 per head and in Switzerland they spent EUR 983.
hosted the various games as they reported up to 231 % revPAR 90 % had a «positive» or «very positive» overall impression of Aus-
tria. The equivalent in Switzerland was 84 %.
increases during match days compared to the prior year. http://en.euro2008.uefa.com /
The daily results reveal great performance of the cities tracked
by Smith Travel Research (STR Global) over the match days.
Three group games each took place in Basel, Bern, Zurich, Ge-
neva, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna. Vienna and
Basel hosted the quarterfinals, semi-finals and the final. The
graph shows the revPAR (revenue per available room) increase
overall during the group games from 7 June to 18 June. Salz-
burg, Geneva and Vienna showed the biggest increase com-
pared to the same day last year. As Vienna hosted four more
games after the group stages, the city’s hoteliers benefited from
the additional demand.
Despite the bad weather, the early exit of the Swiss and Aus-
trian teams and some complaints about high prices, many peo-
ple followed the tournament in the stadiums or on big screens
or in front of the television. The cities not only provided fans
with entertainment in the stadiums, but provided ‘fan miles’ and The additional demand generated by the event helped hote-
public viewing areas which attracted more fans to the hosting liers to boost revPAR compared to last year. The UEFA EURO
cities to create a special atmosphere during the championship. 2008 has been the biggest event for the Austrian and Swiss cit-
According to UEFA the fan zones within the eight cities had ca- ies in recent history. Whilst the tournament may have displaced
pacity to host around 320,000 visitors which helped to cater for some usual business for hotels in the host cities, the cities hope
all fans who arrived without a ticket. to gain from an overall improvement in image, putting the cities
‘on the map’ and attract more visitors in the future – making the
Finance
Swiss and Austrian hoteliers very happy indeed, despite losing
The income from UEFA EURO 2008TM totaled EUR 1.3 billion, out on the actual championship title.
which is about twice as much as UEFA made from EURO 2004 in
Portugal. The overall turnover from the European Championship
final round can be broken down into four main sources: media
rights (60 %), commercial rights (income from sponsoring and http://www.strglobal.com/
merchandising, 21 %), hospitality (12 %), and ticketing (7 %). UEFA
will use the EUR 250 million or so net profit to finance all its youth
and women’s competitions until 2012, its complete refereeing and
coaching programmes and some of its administrative costs.
http://en.euro2008.uefa.com /
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
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S e ptemb er, 2008
Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
VIENNA:
THE VIEWPOINT OF THE PRESS
In this event we, the ones who had the written press pass, had
an extra advantage: we were able to travel by first class train
to all the venues, visit museums and use public transportation
without charge. This wasn’t a small detail, given that it allowed
us to follow around a team and get to know as many cities as
we could and enjoy the beautiful views. The sum of mountains,
green meadows and lakes make these two countries perfect
scenery to exhaust the batteries of any camera.
We were based in Vienna, the city that hosted the big final.
Due to one of those things destiny does once in a while, we
ended up staying at one of the official Euro 2008 hotels. As
soon as we got there, we had to walk through a police line that
held back all the screaming fans, only allowing hotel guests
to past through the barriers. We shared the hotel with several
teams: Croatia, Turkey, Poland and Germany. A memory I will
forever treasure is having been in an elevator with Philip Lahm,
and being in the hotel the night the Turkish team came back
after beating the Croats by penalty kicks.
When the screaming and cheering of many fans was lit by the
first rays of the morning sun, the press lounge, Vienna’s press
TV figures
According to the latest figures, each of the 31 EURO 2008 matches
was watched live by at least 155 million TV viewers (equaling the
figures from Portugal). The final round of the European Football
Championship was shown in a total of 231 countries/territories (in-
cluding the Channel Islands, Virgin Islands and Montserrat)..
http://en.euro2008.uefa.com /
center and the National Library were the places where we found
the facts and stories we needed to write the daily news. Later,
a countless amount of different sausages and beers awaited us
One doesn’t need to give it much thought: as a tourist or a
spectator, one could clearly see that the real cham-
pions of the Euro 2008 were the hosts Austria and Switzerland.
for lunch, afternoon snack and dinner! In reference to the food
there can’t be any complains either, although sometimes my
argentine body ached for a good piece of beef. Well…habits
In spite of the victory cup flying over to Spanish territory, every- are habits.
one from Michael Platini, the UEFA president, to the last volun-
teer should be extremely proud of having organized an event
of such magnitude. The result was an incredible success from
both the sport and the tourist point of view.
I was able to perform my task of a blogger all the while being
a luxurious Euro spectator. Both countries’ hospitality was such,
that after many days away from home, we still felt the urge to
visit and get to know more of each country. Most days the foot-
ball was only an excuse to be able to enjoy the atmosphere and
to share a meal or a goal celebration with fans from any other
country. Austria and Switzerland, I repeat, really organized a
cultural event.
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Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
were able to enjoy the event that will forever be in their memory
Social projects as it will be in mine. Our EURO blog was full of football as much
For every goal scored during UEFA EURO 2008™, UEFA is donating as it had of landscape and food; as much play and goals as his-
EUR 4,000 (CHF 6,700) to the «Score for the Red Cross» fundrais-
ing campaign. tory and customs. From the first moment it was a mirror of the
http://en.euro2008.uefa.com / personal experience that Austria and Switzerland treated me
with, with their excellent organization.
A special comment has to be made in regards to the fans, By Emilio Yahni
which blended in with the tourists and the locals without any Emilio Yahni is the Hispanic Community Leader for OleOle which is the
problems. The friendly atmosphere was such that watching a worldwide leading social media site for football (soccer) fans. Unlike any
match at any Fan Zone (where there were giant screens, live traditional media publication or website, 100 % of the content on OleOle is
music, food, beer and sponsor stands) was a much desired and created, moderated, and edited by the fans.
enjoyable routine in spite of the many, many people. The pres-
ence of all flags, even of countries that weren’t playing gave Photo: Vienna Tourist Board and OleOle
even more color to the great triumph of integration of Austria http://www.OleOle.com
and Switzerland
As I mentioned, football and the results, were only a second-
ary matter. The host cities, with their history and monuments,
were the great meeting points for thousands of people who
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TRANSPORTATION:
UEFA WINS AGAIN
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship held in
Austria and Switzerland June 16-29th, 2008 was a
huge transportation success. The logistics of getting the fans
volunteers, staff, etc.) were also entitled to free public transport
during the tournament.»
In addition to free public transport tickets, the report goes
to the football matches from other countries was a difficult task, on to say, «4,500 extra trains were in use during UEFA EURO
yet Austria and Switzerland were able to do it for the month long 2008, 2,000 in Austria and 2,500 in Switzerland.» This surly
championship. helped to curb the traffic congestion in and round Austrian and
Getting fans to the games and festivities needed above all the Swiss cities. Some companies such as Eurail sold special Euro
cooperation between rail companies and governments. Several 2008 train tickets to non-Europe residents and InterRail train
travel agents and rail companies offered special deals to fans. tickets to Europe residents which also contributed to lessoning
These travel offers meant that those who did not have tickets the traffic problems by making rail travel affordable replacing
could still enjoy the pre and post game celebrations. Before the the necessity to drive a car.
UEFA European Football Championship started there were traf- In Switzerland and Austria, trains have been a popular method
fic jams at the Swiss border. The main reason for the problems of travel among fans because of the advanced rail technology
was that Switzerland is not a party of the Schengen Agreement and services, good rail links and environmental reasons. Cars
that allows free movement over European boarders so cars and are not viewed as evil in fact; there are several trains that cars
passports needed to be checked. Those riding on trains also can be placed on to travel through the mountain passes. Trains
had their passports checked but this didn’t cause any train de- as means of transport have been used for a number of years
lays because the passports are checked as the train continues
to its destination.
Going back to how Austria and Switzerland managed all Public transport
The dedicated EURO 2008 public transport service was hugely pop-
these challenges during Euro 2008. The Media Desk for UEFA ular. In Austria, 3,977 extra trains were provided during the tour-
report about Euro states «Euro 2008 SA has invested CHF 8m nament and 2.4 million additional passengers were catered for. In
Switzerland, 4,700 extra trains were laid on for additional 2 million
in the comb-ticket system which entitles ticket-holders to free or so passengers. The public transport targets of 60 % of long-dis-
public transport on the day of the match and until noon the fol- tance and 80 % of local transport were exceeded.
http://en.euro2008.uefa.com /
lowing day. All accreditation-holders (media representatives,
39S e ptemb er, 2008
Ac t i v e / Adv e n t u r e : EURO 2008: B e fore & Af te r
The Netherlands has decided instead of charging the drivers
to use the highways to reduce the speed limit on highways sur-
rounding large cities. The reduction is working in reducing the
carbon levels but not the traffic jams. This raises the question
of what can be done to get people off the roads and into the
trains.
Many countries have well-developed railroads with amenities
that make rail travel attractive for everyday use. However, there
is still a lot to do to make railway attractive even for vacation-
ers. Some of the examples are the sleeping compartments that
offer games and television for families traveling with children,
breakfast services with a wider variety of food, and buses to
get from the train station to hotels and campgrounds. Some rail
companies such as The Dutch National Railroad have recently
returned to selling coffee and snacks on trains, and business
class seating. The German InterCityExpress has plush second-
class seats with a full service restaurant that makes train travel
a delight.
The European Football Championship is the third-largest sports
event worldwide, surpassed only by the Olympic Games and the
FIFA World Cup.
Yet, more can be done to make rail travel appealing to fami-
lies. Cities can help by improving the public transport such as
increasing the frequency of busses and trams. Among the ad-
vantages of trains compared to cars is the simple fact that you
don’s need to look for parking space. Trains also offer children
more space than cars so they do not become as agitated.
by tourists visiting Zermatt Switzerland to see the Matterhorn. In the case of Euro 2008 the Dutch had a great time in Bern,
Trains in both countries are monitored for safety all day long via they doubled the size of the city while their team played there.
monitors watching the many tunnels and mountain passes in The logistics of getting Dutch fans to Switzerland then to Austria
case of fire, earthquake and avalanche. Also, Austria and Swit- after their team made it to the quarter finals against Russia put
zerland have excellent railroads and roadways. the two host countries to the test. In the end, Austria and Swit-
Yet, the Euro 2008 traffic issue has once again brought back zerland passed the test and were able to beat their traffic woes
into the spotlight what to do about the Europe’s crowded roads. with good planning, and technological advances.
Several countries have implemented numerous measures to cut
down the traffic delays. In 2007, London launched a congestion By Chantal Sukel (Eurail. com B. V. )
charge for cars entering the city. This plan was met with cheers Photo: Switzerland Tourism
from environmentalist and jeers from the small business own- http://www.eurail.com
ers. Several other cities also introduced congestion charges, for
example Oslo and Rome. In addition to the charges, Italy has a
toll on highways as does France and Switzerland. This however
has not reduced the overall problem of traffic jams and its dam-
age to the environment.
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