Pubs and hotels win big at Rugby World Cup
The tourism board said the figure reached £2.5bn when accounting for indirect spend from visitors travelling and visiting UK attractions in between games.
Hotel occupancy reached 99 per cent in host cities on match days, with booking website Trivago reporting that prices had soared to record highs.
Rooms in Cardiff reached an average of £574 per night during the tournament, while London prices peaked at £334 as Australia took on the All Blacks in the final.
Bartenders also suffered from sore arms but strong profits, with average Saturday sales up £1,000 across the country and £6,000 within a three-mile radius of Twickenham during England’s early games, CGA Peach reported.
VisitEngland’s chief executive, James Berresford, said: “This Rugby World Cup will be remembered as the biggest rugby tournament to date. Over the past six weeks we have hosted a fantastic celebration across 13 venues and 11 destinations that have showcased the very best of our sport, but also the very best of England.
“In addition to the matches, we have had 1.5 million people through 15 fanzones across the country, with huge support from the cities, making this a record-breaking tournament to be proud of”.
