Just one year after Denmark successfully hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, the country has been awarded yet another world championship together with Sweden. In 2025, Sweden and Denmark will invite the world of ice hockey to take part in this major sporting event. It will be of great value in terms of branding and economically according to an evaluation made by University College of Northern Denmark, UCN.
Sweden became world champions in May last year in Denmark. Denmark, as the host of the event, received much acknowledgment from the international world of ice hockey. In 2025, Denmark and Sweden will co-host the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in a joint effort to take the event to new heights.
An evaluation of the economic tourism-related impact and event experience related to the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship last year in Denmark demonstrates that hosting has great value.
"We are still looking back at the World Championship in 2018 with great, great joy. The positive effects and figures confirm that Ice Hockey Denmark and our partners worked as a team and delivered an event of absolute world class. The success is the most substantial reason why we offered ourselves as a co-host in 2025, and we expect that our part of the World Championship will be of the same caliber and will have the same positive effect, as was the case in 2018. At the same time, we are delighted that with the revenue in such an event, we can contribute to the Danish economy, " says Henrik Bach Nielsen, President of the Danish Ice Hockey Federation.
238,000 guests from more than 80 countries participated when the first Ice Hockey World Championship took place in Denmark. The total amount of tourism spending at the 2018 IHWC was EUR 129.6 million. Out of the total amount of EUR 129.6 million, spectators accounted for 85%, equivalent to EUR 110.6 million.
The visiting spectators and other participants in the event spent over four days on average with the Ice Hockey World Championship and on average spent EUR 180 a day including tickets. 353,000 tickets were sold for the matches in the two host cities, Herning, and Copenhagen. For 2025, the host cities have yet to be announced.
The analysis also demonstrates that the major sporting events can have a positive effect on future tourism to Denmark. 88 pct. of the respondents will recommend Denmark as a travel destination for their family, friends, and colleagues. Moreover, we know that they have the opportunity to return as spectators to yet another World Championship in ice hockey.
Sport Event Denmark which is the national sporting event organization partnered the event. The Chief Executive, Lars Lundov, says:
– The IIHF Ice hockey World Championship last May sold 353,000 tickets. Such a massive ticket sale is hardly seen before in Denmark. The evaluation from UCN shows that especially international tourists contributed to the total tourism impact, spending close to a 100 million Euro during their visit to Denmark. Those numbers advocate for another great event in 2025.
Satisfied spectators
The vast majority of spectators for the Ice Hockey World Championship were very satisfied with their overall experience. On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is "very satisfied," the event lands on a total score of 4.5. The spectators mention the experience of the facilities in venues, the fan zones, the security level, and the efforts of the employees and volunteers.
The data about the spectator experience is based on more than 900 interviews with randomly selected respondents on the two venues.
Henrik Toft, associate professor at UCN University College, says about the evaluation:
– The analysis shows that the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2018 was both an experience of high-quality sports and an event that created a tremendous economic impact on Denmark and the two host cities. It emphasizes Denmark's potential in hosting major international sporting events with success.
In 2025, Denmark will thus host the Ice Hockey World Championships for the second time, whereas Sweden has hosted the event several times over the past years.
The Danish Ice Hockey Federation staged the World Championship through a corporation created for this purpose, Ishockey VM 2018 P/S, which is owned equally by the Danish Hockey Federation and Infront Sports & Media AG. The World Championship project is supported by Sport Event Denmark, the Municipality of Herning, Central Denmark Region, the City of Copenhagen and the Capital Region of Denmark. For 2025, the venues in Denmark and Sweden are to be announced.
Link to the evaluation: http://blad.ucn.dk/ice-hockey-vm-2018/
This document summarises a Danish report on the economic tourism-related impact and event experience relating to the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship held in Denmark. The underlying data for the report were jointly collected by the University College of Northern Denmark and CPH Business, and by students from these two educational institutions, who conducted more than 900 interviews. In addition, the event organisers provided ticket-sales statistics and background information about the event. These sources provided the underlying data for the original report and hence for this summary.
For further information:
Henrik Bach Nielsen, Danish Ice Hockey Federation. Email: hnie@stofanet.dk
Henrik Toft, Associate Professor, UCN. Email: HIT@ucn.dk
Lars Lundov, CEO, Sport Event Denmark, Email: ll@sporteventdenmark.com