Menu

UEFA Euro 2024 will kick off as the most sustainable continental European football championship of all time with renewable energy in stadiums, minimal floodlighting and water usage, and smart match schedules to reduce travel for players and fans, according to Justas Gedvilas, Sports and Entertainment Research Manager at Euromonitor International.
 
Germany is hosting UEFA Euro 24, which gets underway on Friday, with the tournament taking place in 10 German cities, including Munich and Cologne, with the final to be held in the iconic capital Berlin.
 
“UEFA has pledged to make Euro 2024 the most environmentally sustainable European Championship ever,” said Gedvilas. “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.
 
According to Gedvilas, all the stadiums for the tournament will run on 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.
 
He said 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.
 
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.
 
Bremner noted that 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 a growth of 9% for both trips and spending in 2024,” said Bremner.