The London 2012 games have brought a boost of £50 million to businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Business leaders at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce have said that restaurants and hotels in Coventry and the surrounding areas have gained from extra business that has come from people watching the Olympic football at the Ricoh.
Visitor attractions in the local area including Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle also benefited from a higher number of visiting spectators.
Chief executive of the chamber, Louise Bennett, said: “I have seen forecasts that the Olympics has been worth around £50 million to Coventry and Warwickshire’s economy.
“Obviously it is extremely difficult to provide an exact figure but when you look at the fact that we hosted matches, the torch was made here and many other businesses won contracts, it has been a major boost.”
Chamber president, Amrik Bhabra, thinks that the impact of hosting Olympic events shouldn’t be underestimated: “We had the football in Coventry and that was major.
“Two of the three games I went to were sell-outs and I’m sure a big percentage of that crowd were people from outside the area.
“We tried to get people who were visiting to stay and see the city and we know that businesses in the city centre felt a positive impact, especially restaurants and hotels.”
“The city council’s park-and-ride scheme pushed people to park in the city centre and that made a big difference in terms of people stopping over or having a meal before or after going to the ground.”
More than 100 local firms also won direct Olympics contracts worth more than £80 million in total. Exhall company, the Premier Group, won one of the games’ most coveted contracts and were selected to make 8,000 Olympic torches.
Mr Bhabra said: “In terms of a legacy, I went to a game where Mexico were playing and there were 10 of us dressed up in Mexican hats.
“We were interviewed by four Mexican TV channels who might have had no idea before that where Coventry was.
“Who knows what impact that exposure could have on tourists or businesses coming to the UK?”