THE HOSTING of the Ryder Cup provided a £106 million lift for the Scottish economy.

An independent study reveals that the 2014 Gleneagles golf event attracted more than 63,000 visitors from outwith Scotland.

The research estimated that £22million of the £106 million boost to the Scottish economy from the event, directly benefitted Perth and Kinross. The researchers produced the figure by estimating the expenditure of all people attending the Ryder Cup through their stay.

It reveals that 57 per cent of event spectators came from outwith Scotland with 22 per cent travelling from overseas to attend the event.

Fans of the Ryder Cup, which was won by Europe, accounted for a total of 133,104 bed nights during the week of the event alone while a further 10,793 attendees extended their stay either pre or post event. That accounted for an additional 57,758 bed nights.

It is estimated the marketing exposure of the event in terms of promoting Scotland across live television, TV highlights packages, news, print and social media would have cost £11.3m to purchase commercially. The event produced more than 5,000 hours of television coverage by 50 broadcasters in 200 territories.

And the study showed that spectators were inspired to return to Scotland with 68 per cent of Ryder Cup spectators from outwith the country indicating they would visit the country again within a year for a leisure break.

The reputation of Scotland was also enhanced with 97 per cent of those surveyed agreeing that Scotland is the Home of Golf while 95 per cent agreed that Scotland was the perfect stage to host The Ryder Cup.

Scotland’s minister for sport, health improvement and mental health, Jamie Hepburn MSP, said: “There is no doubt The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles was a huge success story for Scotland. When the sun rose above the Ochil Hills on the Friday morning just before the first tee shot was struck, the pictures being beamed to more than 600 million homes around the world could not have shown Scotland in any better light.

“And now, with the publication of this independent study from the Sport Industry Research Centre, we can see the full extent of the major benefits The 2014 Ryder Cup delivered for Scotland.

"It is clear that The 2014 Ryder Cup has cemented Scotland’s reputation as the Home of Golf and the perfect stage for hosting major events and delivered benefits across Scotland that we will be feeling for many years to come.”

And Scotland was the most highly rated place to play golf, when judged against the other home nations, with 95 per cent rating it as good/very good.

Three in four of local accommodation providers reported greater than normal takings compared with September 2013 with almost 70% increasing their rates around the event.

Research suggested an average increase in hotel rates of around £34 per person per night across Scotland, with short term rentals up by around £42 per person per night.

Richard Hills, European Ryder Cup director, said: “These figures published today demonstrate the wide spectrum of involvement that Ryder Cup Europe had with Scotland over a period of years in the delivery of The 2014 Ryder Cup. We are delighted they reflect so well on Scotland’s economy and the development of the game as a whole, whilst evolving the nation’s golfing product.

The study by the Sport Industry Research Centre of Sheffield Hallam University is the most comprehensive ever undertaken at The Ryder Cup and involved more than 9,000 survey responses from spectators.

Almost three out of four spectators in the survey were male and were most likely to be aged 45 and over with the average age being 48.